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QrARTEUS OF CO. D, SECOND REGIMENT ALA. VOLS., AT MIAMI. 
"Before AND Afteu" the Troops Encamped Thekf.. 



SOUTHERN MARTYRS. 



A HISTORY 



ALABAMA'S WHITE REGIMENTS 

DURING THE 

SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 

TOUCHING INCIDENTALLY ON THE EXl'ERIENCES OF 

THE ENTIKE FIRST DIVISION OF THE 

SEVENTH ARMY CORPS. 



SERGEANT M. KOENIGSBERG, 

Co. E, 2nd Regt. Ala. Vol. Infy. 



MONTGOMERY, ALA. . 

iJKOWN pniNTi:«a co., printers and binders. 
1898. 



^1% 



Entered acconliug- to Aft of Cons;retis. iu the year 18i>H, by 

M. KOEN'KJSBKKc;, 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Wasliin^ton, I). C. 



1st COPY» 



S^IMX^J 0(^."\A^ 



DEDICATORY. 



"3Iors, te salutamus!" should have been inscribed over 
the doors of the volunteer army recruiting stations. "Death, 
we salute thee !" would have been a fitting legend to flutter 
in funereal folds from every rendezvous where brave men 
were enrolled on the long list of American victims of a 
systemless system. 

Magnolia and fir trees guard the bones of Southerner and 
Northerner who succumbed alike in wretched struggles 
with the results of administrative and executive incompe- 
tence. In the noisome camps that stretched at intervals 
from Mobile to Miami were laid bloodless battlefields whe^e 
American patriotism contested with American error. 

To the unfortunate dead of those unhappy contests, this 
work is feelingly dedicated in the hope that the truths 
these pages exploit will aid the erection of a memorial 
monument on which the mourners' contrition will word it- 
self thus : 

TO Commemorate the Eternal Divorce 
OF Politics from the Army." 




Oct. l^^iPS. The Author. 



PREFACE. 

'T was origiually iuteDclecl by the author to print the 
^ names of those Alabamians who volunteered for service 
and were rejected in the physical examinations. The 
men who were willing to forsake t'leir civilian interests and 
share the volunteer's lot are deserving of credit ; but letters 
reaching the historian show that a large number of the re- 
jected patriots are reluctant to have the fact of their inelig- 
ibility published. Many appear to smart under the exam- 
ining surgeons' distinctions. In deference to this spirit and 
because the author's purpose was to honor rather than em- 
barrass the physically ineligible volunteers, none of their 
names is published. M. K. 

Montgomery, Oct. 19, 1893. 



ARGIMENT. 



i?T may have been an accident that the six regiments se- 

i|i lected to suffer at Miami came from Southern States. 

1^ The author is anxious that the title, "Southern Martyrs," 
be understood as intending geographical designation rather 
than sectional significance. There were among the two 
Alabama regiments many noble Northeiners whose eagerness 
to fight for the Stars and Stripes was greater only than their 
eagerness to go into battle under Southern officers with 
Southern comrades. 

While the historian does not attempt to fix specifically 
the blame for the tortures and mortality thrust on the vol- 
unteer troops by American mismanagement, it might be well 
to explain what this narrative purposes to prove. The cul- 
pable responsibility rests not only on the military unpre- 
paredness in which the national solons permitted the coun- 
try to remain for years, but weighs with equal burden in 
North and South, East and West, wherever political influence 
was exercised to gain the appointment of incompetent offi- 
cers. 

History ranks in the class of compensatory literature be- 
cause truth is its essence. "Southern Martyrs" is intended 
as a truthful narrative. Imagery has been abandoned for 
accuracy. Such truths in these chapters as may pain indi- 
vidually are calculated to benefit generally through the les- 
sons they teach. And, therefore, though the few compari- 
sons employed may be reckoned by some as odious, though 
the descriptions given and the facts recited maj'jearn the 
resentmentof some and the gratification of others, the author 
will feel his object attained if the book succeeds in extend- 
ing the agitation for a military regimen under which Amer- 
ican patriots will cease ^o suffer such martyrdom as Miami. 



8 Aegument. 

To the surviving members of the First and Second Ala- 
bama, "Southern Martyrs" may prove useful for souvenir 
and record purposes. Great pain lias been taken to chron- 
icle in unbiased verbiage those incidents that really compose 
regimental history. Necessarily, many episodes of interest 
are omitted, because to print all would be practically im- 
possible and to select only some would be as unsatisfactory 
to the majority of the two regiments as it would be embar- 
rassing to the author. 

Unfortunately, some of the facts that the author is most 
eager to exploit can be confirmed only by the testimony of 
men yet in the service. To jeopardize the commissions of 
some or to menace others with the embarrassments of courts- 
martial is not the purpose of the author. Some of the pas- 
sages, therefore, in " Southern Martyrs," are guardedl}'^ 
written. None of the statements is exaggerated. At times, 
where important assertions may lack detail, the absent defi- 
niteness may be traced to official records which are as yet 
guarded in the pigeon-holes of interested officers. Some 
day, uutrammeled by the obligations invested in them by 
their commissions, a number of these officers will elaborate 
the averments made in "Southern Martyrs." 

Already, before his book has reached publication, skepti- 
cal persons — men who wallowed in domestic comforts while 
fellow-citizens were battling for the nation's welfare — have 
approached the author with such questions : "But what 
history can the Alabama regiments have .^ They saw no 
active service, and surely regiments in the Civil War suffered 
more ?" 

It is in the selfish indifference of such supercilious ques- 
tioners that the abuses and outrages of America's military 
methods are fostered and nurtured. If these skeptics would 
devote more time to a quest for information and less indus- 
try in the pursuit of personal pleasures, they might be of 
political assistance in righting the great wrongs that have 
been and are being done. 



Argument. 9 

To njo barefoot, in tatters, hungry and cold, to toil in the 
burning sun with torn fingers and emaciated forms, to sleep 
in the open with no counterpane but Heaven's canopy, to 
suffer and bleed and famish and endure the harrassings and 
distresses of unpaid, unfed soldiers in a bloody service— all 
this is terrible. Americans have experienced .such suflfer- 
ings ; Heaven forefeud that they shall be again called on to 
do it. But speaking for the men of the First and Second 
Alabama, writing for himself who was one of them, the 
author solemnly declares that rather would they have gone 
through all the worst struggles of Santiago than have 
endured one month of Miami. 

In "the fierce ecstasy that thrills through manhood's 
heart of oak when trumpets blow for war" is recompense 
enough to Americans for all the deprivations of an ordinary 
campaign. Napoleon's grenadiers grumbled at the inactiv- 
ity and hardships of Ital}', but, once under his master leader- 
ship, the horrors of the march to Moscow failed to wring 
from their lips a single complaint. It is one thing to hear 
the singing of shot and shell, to see the spattering blood, to 
catch mind-pictures of ghastly, upturned faces, to quiver 
and shake in the hellish throb of battle. It is one thino- 
too, to swelter on long, strength-stealiog tramps, to bolt un- 
cooked food, to go, perhaps, half-clothed and worse housed. 
And it is one thing, too, to know you are doing all this for 
Old Glory, with true comrades beside you, under courageous 
and capable leaders, for a grateful nation. The chill of the 
yawning grave, the fearful whisperings of the flying missiles, 
the stench, the racking scenes, the sheol of it all becomes 
one grand epoch of glory in which the proddings of peril, 
the harassing of hunger and the worrj- of weariness are 
merged into a tingle of gratifying excitement. 

But, oh ! what a difi"erent thing it is to grovel in misery 
at Miami— to toil beyond the limits of human endurance 
because a blind or criminal officer has been led into a trap 
and a querulous taskmaster forgets that soldiers are men; 



10 Aegument. 

to know that doctors are fighting to rescue you from a hell 
hole of horrors while incompetent officers, superior in au- 
thority, deny the presence of danger ; to drink disease 
germs from day to day because those same incompetent 
officers withhold you from pure water ; to stumble about^ 
bare-foot, in rags, because a prosperous people has failed 
to appoint men who have energy enough to clothe you out 
of plethoric coffers ; to stifle and swelter, thirsty and weak, 
through unreasonable and unprofitable drills ; to spend the 
nights battling with mosquitoes and the days contending 
with insidious death agents ; to subsist on illy-cooked food 
that would of itself have already sent less hardy men to 
their graves ; to slave and have added to your slavery the 
humiliation of knowing that the men who thrust this 
martyrdom upon you are protected and favored by the 
nation you volunteered to fight for. 

It is one thing to know you are suffering in a good cause; 
it is another matter to realize that you are being done to 
death by incompetents placed above you. 

There were, and are, in the First and Second Alabama, 
as well as throughout the volunteer army, a number of effi- 
cient and brilliant officers ; but, unfortunately, it was not 
in their hands that the direction of affairs was vested. 

Some scoffers make the puerile, nay childish, argument 
that tlie volunteers of 1898 should not complain — that they 
have no ground for grievance in view of the fact that Con- 
federate and Union soldiers suffered more in the '60's than 
have the men who served against Spain. How short- 
sighted are these views! The men who bore the priva- 
tions and hardships of the Civil War accepted them as a 
matter of course. There was no overflowing commissary 
from which the Confederate armies could draw ; and the 
tremendous drain on the coffers of the Northern States had 
taxed every resource of Lincoln's administration. And the 
troops were performing the most active service, constantly 



Akgument. 11 

subjected to the exigencies, losses and inconveniences of 
interminable contact with hostile forces. 

On the other hand, the men at Miami were so far re- 
moved from the theater of active operations that they were 
not even furnished with ball cartridges; they were alwaj's 
in close touch with an undisturbed base of supplies ; the 
energies and activities of a War Department, backed by in- 
calculable means, were supposedly at hand to fill all requi- 
sitions ; no danger from an armed foe threatened the camp 
or menaced the commissary ; a plan of hardening the vol- 
unteers was purposed — and yet the First and Second Ala- 
bama need not have suffered more had they participated in 
the most unfortunate of McClelland's campaigQs. 

It is difficult then to picture what would have been their 
fate under similar mauag3ment in the enemy's country, 
isolated from their supply depots and dependent upon 
their surroundings for their subsistence. If men should 
be trained for war as slaves are led to the galleys ; if 
health is enhanced by disease ; if strength comes from ex- 
haustion ; if thirst and suffocation and sleeplessness lend 
endurance ; if military morale is obtained through disgust, 
then the author will become his own apologist and confess 
that this history is futile and nugatory. 

But this explanation could not close with justice unless 
Mr. Flagler and his pretty coast town of Florida were 
exonerated from the vituperative assaults of superficial ob- 
servers. Mr. Flagler has done so much for Florida, he 
has shown so much sympathy with the soldiers' suffer- 
ings, he has given with such unstinted generosity to all 
the Red Cross and auxiliary causes that one can scarcely 
believe he countenanced Miami's misery. Miami itself 
holds forth varied and extensive possibilities of pleasure 
to the tourist. Superb scenery and magnificent situations 
lend to the attractiveness of the place and it is easy to live 
with more than ordinary comfort at the big hotel on 
Biscayne Bay. As to the responsibility for the mistakes 



12 Argument. 

of Miami, the author agrees in a measure with the editor 
of the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, who wrote in a Septem- 
ber issue of his paper : 

"In two and a half years before the camp was established 
at Miami there had been only one case of typhoid fever. 
When the soldiers came they bathed in the reservoir and 
dynamited fish, which rotted in the water supply. But 
what did the authorities in charge of the troops do ? In- 
stead of carting away the oifal of the camp daily, it was de- 
posited in sinks near the company wells. The troops were 
allowed to wash themselves, their clothing, and dishes upon 
the ground at wells from which the}^ drank water. * * * * 
Had the troops at Miami been commanded by a wise and 
firm officer, with any ordinary knowledge of sanitation, there 
would have been no reasonable complaint. But maledic- 
tions were poured upon the Secretary of War for estab- 
lisluDg the Miami camp." 

That the official careers of the responsible officers are 
fringed with the graves of Miami martyrs is certainly true. 
But that the responsibility weighs heaviest with the men 
who forced the selection of Miami as a camp-site in the face 
of Gen. J. F. Wade's adverse report, is a fact which will be 
fully recorded, if not in earthl}^ tribunals, then at that bar 
where plutocrat and patriot, murderer and murdered meet 
for eternal judgment. That Gen. -J. F. Wade reported 
Miami, after careful inspection, as utterly unfit for camp 
purposes is in itself a copious commentary on the subse- 
quent suflerings of the First Division of the Seventh Army 
Corps. 



Those Whom Death Has Already Taken. 13 



THOSE WHOM DEATH HAS ALREADY TAKEN. 



FIRST ALABAMA. 

Hngli Collius, sergeaut, Compauy K, killed at Mobile, 
Ala., May 3. 

Robert J. McCtiUougl), private, Company L, died in divi- 
sion hospital, Mobile, May 27 ; fever. 

Olen J. Olseu, private, Company I, died in division 
hospital at Mobile, June 9 ; fever. 

Y. Walter Smith, sergeant, Company A, died in marine 
hos]iital. Mobile, July 15; fever. 

J. W. Hannah, private, Compauy C, died at his home in 
Gadsden, June 23; fever. 

Nicholas P. Gaines, private. Company I, died in marine 
hospital, Mobile, June "ll\ fever. 

Herman Brada, private. Company M, committed suicide, 
Miami, July 12. 

Charles Schitz, private. Company K, died in division 
hispital, jNfiami, August 18; fever. 

James M. Stewart, private. Company A, died in division 
hospital, Miami, August 23 ; fever. 

J. F. Horton, private. Company E, died in division hos- 
pital, Miami, August 29 ; fever. 

Philip Neeley Finch, sergeant, Company G, died in divi- 
sion hospital, Jacksonville, August 29 ; fever. 

Captain George F. Hart, commanding Compauy L, died 
in St. Luke's hospital, Jacksonville, September 9 ; inflam- 
mation of bowels. 

William M. Pride, Jr., private, Company B, died in 
Florence, Ala., September 20. 

William Thompson, private. Company I, died at Ope- 
lika, Ala., September 21 ; complication of ailments con- 
tracted at Miami. 

W. M. Franklin, private, Company M, died at Hillman 
hospital, Birmingham, Ala., October 1 ; dysentery. 

Fred Sizemore, private. Company K, died at Hillmau 
hospital in Birmingham, October 3; typhoid fever. 

Fred Maloney, private, Company A, died at Birmingham, 
October '6 ; apoplexy. 



14 Those Whom Death Has Aleeady Taken. 



SECOND ALABAMA. 

Eobert N. Alstou, private, Compauy G, died at Miami, 
July 23 ; fever. 

L. P. Simmons, private, Company A, died at Miami, 
August 14 ; dysentery. 

Henry B. McCutchen, private. Company I, died at 
Miami, August 17; typlioid fever. 

W. E. Eollius, private, Compauy G, died at Jacksonville, 
August 19 ; typhoid fever. 

Solomon W. Gold, private, Company I, died at Larkius- 
ville, Ala., while home on sick leave ; fever. 

Anthony Sammereier, private. Company B, died at 
Jacksonville, August 19 ; typhoid fever. 

J. F. Black, private, Compauy F, died at Jacksonville, 
August 24; typhoid fever. 

E. E. James, private. Company B, died at Jacksonville, 
August 26 ; typhoid fever. 

Charles A. McHugh, private, Company C, drowned at 
Jacksonville, September '^4. 

Columbus M. Herrin, private, Company E, died in division 
hospital, Jacksonville, from dysentery contracted at Miami, 
September 7. 

Harmon W. Cox, private. Company C, died in division 
hospital, Jacksonville, September 10 ; concussion of the 
brain. 

J. M. P. Hicks, private, Company I, died in division hos- 
pital, Jacksonville, September 19 ; typhoid fever. 

Wallace Winborne, private. Company M, killed in railway 
accident at Montgomery, Ala., September 23. 

Robert Tipton, private, Company K, killed in railway 
accident at Montgomery, Ala., September 23. 

Alonzo E. Wells, private, Company B, died at City In- 
firmary in Montgomery, Ala., October 6 ; typhoid fever. 



Those Whom Death Has Already Taken. 15 

This death roll becomes more aud more significant as it 
is studied. Eighteen of the deaths are immediately at- 
tributable to ailments contracted during the sojourn 
of less than five weeks at Miami. This means that a 
continiied stay there would have developed a mortality 
rate of at least nine in each regiment per month or 216 in 
the two commands in a year. But surgeons declare that 
when the order finally came directing a removal to Jack- 
sonville, the "present for duty" men were in such a debili- 
tated condition generally that disease would have found in 
them a wonderfully rich field. The mortality would have 
increased as the time passed — if the conditions remained 
the same — the death rate would have become so appalling 
as to call forth the indignation of the entire country. 

The most sinister element of the situation is the fact that 
the Moloch of Miami has not yet designated all his victims. 
Surgeons, whose names are withheld because they are still 
in the army, have assured the writer that months hence the 
morbific w;iters drank in Miami will assert themselves in the 
illness of numbers of men now apparently in good health. 
Their theory is simple. It is contained in a diagnosis of 
Capt. George F. Hart's fatal malady. Part of the water at 
Miami not impregnated with typhoid germs was rendered 
brackish by silicate substances that the men frequently dis- 
cussed but continued to swallow. It is theorized that these 
silicates accumulate in the abdominal canals and produce 
calculus. 

Capt. George F. Hart's death was generally attributed to 
ulceration of the bowels. "Miami water killed him," said a 
surgeon at St. Luke's hospital in Jacksonville, Fla. "And 
Miami water has not yet finished its work in the First Di- 
vision of the Seventh Army Coips," said another surgeon 
whose reputation goes beyond three states. "All its death 
marks have not yet been tallied." And this prophetic 
utterance was made September 15, 1898. 



FIRST REGIMENT ALABAMA VOLINTEER INFANTRY. 



ELIJAH L. HIGDON, Colonel Commanding. 
JOHN B. McDonald, Lieutenant Colonel. 



MAJORS : 

First Battalion, 
Second Battalion, 
Third Battalion, 

SUIUJEONS : 

Major, 

First Lieutenant, 

First Lieutenant, 

First Lieutenant, 

CHAPLAIN : 

Captain, 

REGIMENTAL ADJUTANT: 

First Lieutenant, 



TOM O. SMITH. 
DANIEL D. McLEOD. 
OSCEOLA KYLE. 



WILLIAM J. KERNACHAN. 
LEWIS C. MORRIS. 

(Resigned.) 
HARDEE JOHNSTON. 

(Resigned.) 
R. M. FLETCHER, Jr. 



O. P. FITZSIMMONS. 



LUCIEN C. BROWN. 



REGIMENTAL (JUARTERMASTER : 

First Lieutenant, K. M. FLETCHER, Jr. 

(Resigned.) 
First Lieutenant, MORGAN FELIX WOOD. 

BATTALION ADJUTANTS : 

(First Lieutenants.) 



First Battalion, 
Second Battalion, 
Third Battalion, 



LEON SCHWARZ. 
P. G. SEAMAN. 
L. E. BROWN. 



N0N-C0M3IISSI0NED STAFF 

Sergeant Major, 
Quartermaster Sergeant, 



WALTER E. GARDNER. 
LEWIS W. PATTERSON. 
Hospital Stewards, DAVID W. GASS, ROBERT E. HOGAN, 
and PAUL D. VANN. 




MA.I. TOM (). SMITH, 

0OMMI>i:. FlHST ItATTAIJUN. FlltST K l'.(;l M KNT Al.A. Voi.K. 



MEN OF THE FIEST ALABAMA. 



COMPANY K. 

Birmiugiiam Killes. 



Charles L. Ledbetter, Captain. 
Edward D. Johnston, 1st Lieut. Henry T. Dean, 2d Lieut. 

Lieutenant Lucien C. Brown. Transferred to Kegimental Adjutant. 

Sergeants: 

Henry M. Dozier, First Sergeant. C. Will Nichols, Q'master Ser- 
R. Enimett Craddock. Trans- geant. 

ferred to Land Sergeant. Wm. M. Huey, 

Walter M. Hagood, Chas. G. Gardner, 

William S. Reynolds, Frank M. Barnett, Q'master Ser- 

geant. Discharged. 

Corporals: 

Ben Catchings, Charles G. Reid, 

John E. Ellis. Discharged. Reuben T. Johnston. Discharg'd 

Tom Bowron, Frank L. Moses. Discharged. 

D. 0. Robinson, Herbert E. Reynolds, 

Willie C. Ball, Cook. 

Charles F. Morgareidge, Musician. John Rensford, Musician. 

Allen G. Brown, Wagoner. Discharged. 

Chas. O. Douthit, Wagoner. 

Privates: 

Baker, Ernest A. Honorably Byers, Edgar B., 

discharged. Butler, Mike, 

Ballard, Clarence, Cowan, A. Sid. Discharged. 

Barks, Henry L., Campbell, Goodrich, 

Ball, Willie C, Crowder, Geo. A., 

Brown, Reuben J., Connolly, Chas. E., 

Barnes, Walter, Cushen, John W., 

Brock, Ellis R., Clisby, Warner, 

Brooks, Oliver T., Davis, Ed A., 

Burbridge, Samuel H. , Davis, AVilliam, 

Butcher, Oscar, Dyer, Charles, 
2 



18 



Men of the First Alabama. 



Endsley, Arthur B., 
Faunce, J. N., 
Francis, Sears, 
Fields, Wade H., 
Fowler, Hari'y, 
Fowler, Jack, 
Fuller, Allen A., 
Germaine, Pete G., 
Hall, James W., 
Hall, John, 
Hathaway, H. Bert, 
Havis, Glen W., 
Hicks, Will J , 
Hyche, William T , 
Huddleston, George, 
Hutto, Walter B., 
Jones, Tom R., 
Joseph, Leon, 
Keheley, Walter D., 
Kelly, Jeff, 
Lamb, William B. . 
Latham, John D., 
Lawes, Leo V., 
Leonard, Ernest Eugene, 
Lester, Robert E., 
Lockhart, David, 
Long, James McK., 
Lytle, J. Fred, 
McCaa, Waights, 
McCaskey, John P., 
McDonald, Ellis P., 
McDonald, James, 
McGrady, Walter, 



McKendrick, Allen, 

McNulty, John. Transferred to 

band. 
Moore, John W., 
Moser, Gotlieb Aug., 
Napier, John F., 
Oglesby, William S., 
Parrish, Thad, 
Patterson, W., 
Perkins, John R., 
Price, Cliff S., 
Raisler, Fred W., 
Randolph, Victor M., 
Ransom, Edgar F., 
Redmayne, Marmaduke, 
Reid, Charles G. McD., 
Reed, Sam P., 
Ross, Walter M., 
Russell, Robert L.. 
Roebuck, Hamilton D., 
Sizemore, Fred. Dead. 
Smith, Fred, 
Stewart, Malcolm M , 
Sparks, Fred Y., 
Sziepok, Joseph S., 
Taylor, George O., 
Terry, Percy W., 
Tambling, Frank, 
AVebb, Alonzo W., 
Whelan, Patrick C, 
Williams, John, 
Zeigler, Thomas R., 
Schitz, Charles. Dead. 



Few organizations in the country's national guard have 
seen more service than Company K (Birmingham Rifles). 
Its war record is part of Alabama's war record ; and its 
militia history is intertwined in the history of Northern 
Alabama. After the company's reorganization it was of val- 
uable service in quelling a number of public disturbances. 
Up to and including the Birmingham riot in 1894, the com- 
pany manifested the most creditable promptness in respond- 



Southern Martyrs. 19 

ing to every call issued to it. Since then it was summoned 
to Huntsville, in June, 1897, to save three colored prisoners 
from mob violence. The company has for years been rec- 
ognized as a crack military organization and, as a part of 
Colonel Higdon's regiment, anticipated the call for volun- 
teers in the Spanish-American war by assuring Governor 
Johnston of a readiness to go to the front at any moment. 
The officers claim that eighty per cent, of the old member- 
ship reported for duty in Mobile in May, the company 
reaching that rendezvous with ninety-seven men. 

The Birmingham Rifles were mustered into the volunteer 
service on May 9, 1898. Afterward, on June 13, First Lieu- 
tenant Lucien Brown was transferred to the regimental 
adjutantship to succeed Lieutenant Johnston in that office, 
the latter being relieved at his own request. The company's 
official personnel was then changed in the manner indicated 
in the accompanying roster. 

Company K gained the mournful prominence of having 
the first funeral in the regiment, Sergeant Hugh Collins 
being shot and killed by a negro at Camp Clark, May 
'd, 1898. 



20 Men of the First Alabama. 

COMPANY L. 
Huey Guards (East Lake, Alabama). 



George F. Hart, Captain, deceased. 

Newman D. Lacy, Captain. 

John S. Carroll, 1st Lieut. George R. Byrum, 2d Lieut. 

Sergeants: 

Andrew J. Lacy, Q'master Sergt., Elbert M . Gibson, 
William W. Nutt, Curley H. Self. 

John S. Hargrove, 

Corporals: 

Homer R. Brown, Herman L. Merz, 

John H. Cook, Smith C. Fuller. 

Charles C Hagin, Rufus W. Jones, 

William W. Lampkin, August Martin, 

George Swanton, Fred M. AVarner, 

Edmund D. McCrary, John J. Burnette. 

Charles H. McClaflin, Alonzo G. Worrell, Musicians. 

Joseph Wolf, company cook; James H. Worrell, artificer ; William 
D. A. Brown, wagoner. 

Privates: 

Adams, Joseph B., Daughdrill, Ernest P. Dis- 
Adamson, Charles L., charged. 

Alley, James, Dodd, John, 

Anderson, Walter H., Duncan, Walter E., 

Armstrong. .James, Fickett, Albert W., Jr., 

Atkins, Joseph. Frierson, Leland, 

Barnwell, Eugene C, George, Bartley T., 

Bentley, William F., Glasscock, Jone G., 

Brown, Albert C, Graff, Laban C, 

Burgin, Darby, Gratz, Alexander H., 

Burke, Thomas J., Guihrie, William E., 

Campbell, Augustus, Harris, Albert T., 

Craton, Thomas, Hatter, ira S., 

Cook, Theodore A., Hambright, Bart H., 

Dann, Peter, Hannigan, Daniel, 

Day, Jack, Haddock, William, 

Day, Frank, Henderson, William F., 

Daly, Patrick, Howard, James, 



Southern Martyrs. 



21 



Huffman, Dock E., 
Hurley, Benjamin, 
James, Newton T., 
Jones, INIorgan, 
Keegan, James L., 
Leonard, William ()., 
Link, Lewis L, 
Lucas, Thomas, 
Mayne, John F., 
Meadows, Marion W., 
Morris, Elgin W., 
Morris, Alonzo W., 
Morris, William E., 
Gates, John A. , 
Odell, James T., 
O'Sullivan, Eugene J., 
Owen, Walter D., 
Paschall, Edward A., 
Pearson, James P., 
Powell, P^dwin B., 

DISCHARGED. 

Johnson, Henry L., 

Ross, Edward A., 

Russell, Gilbert E., 

Baggett, Jesse A. Physical dis- 
ability. 

Davidson, George B. Physical 
disability. 

TRANSFERRED 

Fore, Rufus B. To hospital 
corps. 

Wadsworth, Lewis D. To hos- 
pital corps. 

Dinning, Joseph. To Co. 0. 

Jones, John H. To Co. C. 

Mack, William. To Co. C. 



Ratliff, Orange S., 
Roberts, Thomas, 
Saulsbury, Lennard L., 
Schley, Leonard P., 
Sharrit, Amos L., 
Seaw right, Jack C, 
Simpson, Edward, 
Skinner, Edwin R., 
Sparks, William E., 
Stribling, Lyman F., 
Suttle, David, 
Stone, James H., 
Titus, Frank E., 
Tippler, Benjamin F., 
Tucker, Larkin S., 
Webb, Geo. B., 
Williams, John L., 
Williams, Richard L., 
Williams, John H., 
Zuber, Lee K., 



Hengl, Joseph L. 

Noble, Charles 0. 

tal band. 



To Co. G. 
To regimen- 



McCullough, Robert J. At Ma- 
rion hospital, Mobile, Ala , 
June 27, 1898. Buried in 
National cemetery. Mobile, 
June 28, 1898. 



DESERTERS. 



Jordan, Zack G. 
Brown, James P. 
Hood, Joseph F. 
Kleiber, John L. 



July 11, 1898. 
July 23, '98. 
August 4, '98. 
Aug. 17, '98. 



To Robert W. Huey was chiefly due the credit for Com- 
pany L's organization. At first, the command was a de- 
tachment of the Birmingham Rifles but on July 21, 1893, 
it was mustered into the state service as Company L of the 



22 Men of the First Alabama. 

Second Regiment, A. N. G., becoming widely known by the 
name of its organizer. In the military reorganization that 
subsequently occurred, the command was shifted into the 
Third Regiment, though continuing to be designated by its 
original company letter. 

At East Lake, in 1894, the Huey Guards rendered valuable 
service in repressing the coal miners' and American Rail- 
way Union riots of that year. Captain Hurt, since numbered 
with the departed martyrs, was in command. At the time of 
the company's inception, in 1893, he was serving as first 
sergeant of the Birmingham Rifles and the Huey Guards, 
without solicitation on his part, called him to their first lieu- 
tenancy. He had held a commission in the Minnesota 
National Guard and was therefore fitted to succeed to the 
captaincy of the Huey Guards. 

In April, 1898, before the president had issued his call 
for volunteers. Lieutenant N. D. Lacy, then in command of 
the company, called the members together. He set forth 
the imminence of war with Spain and asked the militiamen 
to express their wishes concerning active service. A 
majority favored an immediate tender of the company to 
the governor. Accordingly, Lieutenant Lacy telegraphed 
Governor Johnston and received in response a message an- 
nouncing that Colonel Higdon had been instructed with rela- 
tion to his regiment's services. Thus, the Huey Guards 
claim the honor of being the first company in Alabama that 
offered its services to the nation in the Spanish-American war. 

Meanwhile, Captain Hart, who had resigned his commis- 
sion in order to engage in business at Jacksonville, Fla., 
hastened to Alabama to fight with his militia comrades. 
He was chosen to lead the company and was mustered in 
as its captain. After his death, at Jacksonville, First Lieu- 
tentaut Lacy was elected to the captaincy, the second lieu- 
tenant being promoted one step. First Sergeant George 
R. Byrum and Sergeant John S. Hargrove competed for the 
second lieutenancy and though the latter secured a plural- 
ity of the company's votes, the former was commissioned 
because of his eminent fitness for the position. 



Southern Martyrs. 



23 



COMPANY A. 

Woodlawn Light Infantry. 



WiLMAM Jay Parkks, Captain. 
Morgan Felix Wood, 1st Lieut. 

fAppointetl Regimental Quartermaster Sept. 5, "IS98.) 

William Mudd Martin, 1st Lieut. Lucien C. Montgomery, 2d Lieut. 

Sergeants: 

Alfred W. Baker, First Sergeant. Ellie W. Bullock, Q. M. Sergt. 

Garland Kirvan, Arthur W. McDaniel, 

V. Walter Smith (Died July 15, 1898). Mack Rittenberry. 
Alonzo H. Ahe\, 

Corporals : 

J. Haywood Bullock, 
Louis J. Blau, 
Shannon Jones, 
Walker J. McCarty, 

William T. Lyons, Musician. 
Kichard R. McFarlin, Artificer. Riley S. Dorough, Wagoner. 

Privates: 



William F. Young, 
John W. Vendrick. 
Thomas E. Greene, 
Samuel T. Bingham. 



Arvin, William H., 

Anderson, Fred, 

Alexander, Joseph F.. 

Bare, William G,, 

Beckley, Orange T., 

Bowers, Alonzo F., 

Barnes, George L. Discharged 

Sept. 12, 1898. 
Buchanan Harry M., 
Cooper, John O., 
Cooper, W. E., 
Connelly, John, 
Cox, Sidney L., 
Creiley, Otto C, 
Cunningham, William J., 
Daniel, Earl P., 
Draper, Lewis A. Discharged 

Sept. 7, 1898. 
Dubose, James A., 



Dupey, W. L. Transff^rred to 
Co. C. 

Dwyer, John. , 

Ferrie, Jacob T., 

Frazer, James A., 

Geis, Arthur I. , 

Graham, J. Waller, 

Honn, Hermann, 

Hunt, Frank E., 

Hambright, Pate H., 

Hanesberger, G. C. Trans- 
ferred to Co. C. 

Hazelwood, James, 

Holt, Thomas E., 

Johnson, Pearce M., 

Jones, Calvin M., 

Keirsey, David B., 

Lawler, Charles A., 

Landrum, Houston D., 



24 



Men of the First Alabama. 



Lee, Pat J., 

Lee, George F., 

Lee, Frank G., 

McCombs, Charles, 

McCombs, J. Wallace, 

Mcintosh, Robert, 

McRurney, Harry J., 

Maloney, Frank J., 

Marsden, Isaac, 

Middleton, James, 

Marble, AUister E, Transferred 

to Co. C. 
Montgomery, Bert, 
Montgomery, George H , 
Moran, Thomas A., 
Noland, James P., 
Norman, James E., 
Norton, Thomas S. 
Nail, William F., 
Nunn, William M. , 
O'Connell, William S., 
Osger, Frank, 
Phillipe, William C, 
Powell, Frank C, 
Parrett, G. Frank, 
Quirouet, William E , 
Reed, James, 
Reed, John, 
Reese, William, 
Rock, Thomas J., 



Ruddrick. John F., 
Stanley, Arthur L., 
Stirling, Charles T., 
Scroggins, Jerry M., 
Stewart, George W., 
Stewart, James M. Died Aug. 

23, 1898. 
Smith, Albert, 
Smith, John E. Bandman. 
Smith, John F., 
Smith, Charles W., 
Small, George E., 
Stowe, Fred S. Bandman. 
Tate, Porter K., 
Tyler, Charles A., 
Tyler, William, 
Vann, Hobert H. Discharged 

Sept. 12, 1898. 
Veitch, Gideon W., 
Walsh, Patrick H., 
Wells, William, 
Welsh, Michael J., 
Williams, Byron L. Company 

Clerk. 
Wims, Martin E. 
Wood, Walker F. Discharged 

Sept. 9, 1898. 
Wright, Mark A., 
Yingling, David^C, 
Zaner, I. Benton. 



Charles W. Grace, musician, discharged Aug. 31, 1898. 
Maurice D. Marble, musician, transferred to Co. C. 

To the people of Woodlawn, Ala., the Woodlawn Light 
Infantry has been ever since its organization a sacred insti- 
tution. The diligence with which the company constantly 
sought to perfect itself lent credit to the town whose name 
it bore ; and wherever the command was summoned it took 
with it the best wishes and hopes of Woodlawn. The Light 
Infantry's militia record was of the brightest character ; and 



Southern Martyrs. 25 

that the company was among the first to reach the state 
rendezvous on May 1, 1898, occasioned no surprise. 

The WoodLawn Light Infantry, as Comi)any A, Third 
Eegiment, A. N. G., was offered to the governor for service 
in the volunteer army before the regubir call for state 
troops was issued. The company reported for duty with a 
relatively large roster of available men. Bat the surgeons 
rejected the commander. Captain Parkes. His militia ser- 
vice, however, had shown so many desirable qualifications 
that influence was brought to bear at Washington to over- 
come the examining surgeons' objections. Captain Parkes 
previously commanded the Capital City Guards, of Atlanta, 
Ga. The Woodlawn Light Infantry were indisposed to re- 
linquish him for another leader and the company was for 
awhile in an unusually unpleasant dilemma. The First 
Battalion of the First Alabama was to have been mustered, 
May 9, but the Woodlawn company declined to take the 
oath until assured that Capt. W. J. Parkes would lead 
them. Captain Parkes was much chagrined at the action of 
his men and told them he feared their course would appear 
to have been iuflaeuced by him. He made the men a talk 
on the matter, urging them to be mustered. They were 
firm, however, saying they would follow Captain Parkes 
to the end of the earth ; if the government did 
not want their commander the government did 
not want the Woodlawn Light Infautr3\ So only 
Companies K, L and G were mustered May 9. The 
following day, however, word came from Washington 
authorizing Captain Parkes' acceptance and his company 
took the oath of service at 9 a. m. 

The company served through the Spanish-American war 
without untoward incident, maintaining its accustomed 
standard of soldierKness. At Camp Cuba Libre, First 
Lieut. Morgan Felix Wood was appointed regimental 
quartermaster and Second Lieut. Will Mudd Martin suc- 
ceeded him as the company's first lieutenant. Sergeant 
Lucien C. Montgomery was then chosen second lieutenant. 



26 



Men of the First Alabama. 



COMPANY G. 

Jefierson Volunteers. (Birmfngham, Ala.") 



Hughes B. Kennedy, Captain. 
Richard B. Going, 1st Lieut. F. E. Davidson, 2d Lieut. 

Serg'eaiits: 

L. F. Luckie, First Sergeant. Fred B. Kelso, Q'master Sergeant. 

L S. Hanley, Jr., J. Gary Thompson, 

C. T. Thomason, W. Frank King. 

Corporals: 

A. Newman Farley, 
^Villiam G. Perkins, 
Berlin K. Starnes, 
Wallace Smith, 
Robt. L. Gregory. 
Gharles \V. Manley, Musician. 
Ernest L. Weiss, Cook. Robert L. Daniels, Artificer. 

Thos. Smith, Wagoner. 

Privates: 

Eastman, P. M., 



Fred W. Bowron, 
J. Emmett Benton, 
James G. Johns, 
John G. (;obb. 



Alfred, Charles A., 
Baxter, Robert, 
Bracknell, Albert, 
Bean, Alex. W., 
Burton, William L., 

Bragdon, 

Brown, Lewis, 
Brown, Walter, 
Boyd, Gharles. 
Bean, Aelx. W., 
Creasy, Burtis E., 
Carson, Albert D., 
Carson, Clarence E., 
Coleman, Tillman, 
Caffee, Robert H . , 
Cunningham, Modie E. 
Duke, James B., 
Dee, Leslie, 
Daly, Martin W., 
Evans, Frank A , 
Ellis, Clarence B . , 



Fancher, Julian L. 
Fillingen, Barney, 
Fletcher, Frank, 
Gilbert, Albeit, 
Gettins, Pat, 
Goodman, Melvin, 
Gorman, A. A., 
Harris, Houston, 
Harris, S., 
Hend, Eugene F., 
Hayes, Charles, 
Hunter, John R., 
Hengl, Jos. L. , 
Hosmer, Van, 
Johnson, A Syd, 
Jennings, Gharles D., 
Jones, Ernest, 
Joller, Edgar R., 
Kimball, John C. , 
Kimball, Robin C., 



Southern Martyrs. 



27 



Keiling, TIarry, 
Lawlpy, Fred B., 
Lewis, Herbei't, 
Levy. Julius, 
Mackey, Ed C, Jr., 
Magness, John, 
Martin, Tom A., 
Martin, James, 
Meagher, James, 
Nelson, W. Jones, 
Norwood, William W., 
O'Hear, Arthur, 
O'Rear, Jas A., 

Pierce, ., 

Pitts, G , Chapman, 
Pickard, Toney, 
Reeves, Walter, 
Russell, John, 
Rice, Charles E., 
Ray, Charles E., 
Summers, R. Fletcher, 
Rhaw, William, 
Shaw, Orish W., 
Schwend, Frederick W. 
Stephens, John, 
Schilling, Frank, 
Short, Malcolm C, 



Tutwiler, J. Cooke, 
Tutwiler, Tom, 
Venelle, Edward C, 
Walthall, Hay B., 
Wallace, Pulaski, 
Witte, Ilermon, 
White, Thomas W., 
Winters, Jonathan, 
Winston, Edward C, Jr 
Wooley, David C, 
Yancey, William L. 

DISCFIARGED. 

Browne, George M., 
Browne, Richard, 
Gregory, Robert L., 
Kline, Ahl, 
Vaughn, Harris C. , 
LaPointe, Ernest, 
Swanson, A. Gulmer, 
Steele, James G., 
Vickers, James, Jr., 



Finch, Sergeant Philip Neeley. 



No company in the First Alabama ranked higher on drill 
than the Jefferson Volunteers. Organized in 1888 as a 
zouave company, the "J. V's" never failed to distinguish 
themselves at every encampment they attended. Louis V. 
Clark was the company's first captain. Under the efficient 
command of Captain Clark, who afterward became brigadier 
general of the state militia, the company was readily recog- 
nized as a crack zouave team. Afterward, however, the 
Jefferson Volunteers became a regular infantry company. 
After several reorganizations, it was finally captained by H. 
B. Kennedy, who resigned in 1892. He was succeeded by 
First Lieut. John K. Warren. The latter resigned in 1896 
to accept an appointment on the staff of Brigadier General 



28 Men of the First Alabama. 

Clark. Then Captain Kennedy was recalled to the com- 
pany's command. 

When the call for volunteers came in April, 1898, no 
militia organization in Alabama evinced more patriotic en- 
thusiasm than did the Jefferson Volunteers. Indeed, it was 
afterward a company boast that no other command in the 
state reported at Mobile with a larger percentage of old 
members. Forty of the company's national guardsmen 
went with Captain Kennedy to Camp Clark. First Lieut. 
C. H. Schoolar did not volunteer with his company, how- 
ever, and on the train, en route to Mobile, May 1, 189 3, it 
was decided that Second Lieutenant Going should be ele- 
vated to the first lieutenancy. Then, after a spirited con- 
test. Second Sergt. O. J. Miles was chosen second lieutenant 
over Sergeants Davidson and Luckie. Lieutenant Miles, 
however, was afterward rejected by the examining sur- 
geons. Meanwhile, Sergeant Davidson was detailed as 
special instructor of the guard at Camp Clark. After Lieu- 
tenant Miles was rejected, Sergeant Davidson was finally 
elected second lieutenant. 

Death struck a shining mark in Company G — Sergt. 
Philip Neeley Finch, a son of Mrs. Julia Neeley Finch, the 
authoress. lie died at the division hospital at Jackson- 
ville from typhoid fever contracted in Miami. 

It would be difficult to speak too highly of the Jefferson 
Volunteers' record as a company in the volunteer army. 
But in fairness it can be said that no other command in the 
two Alabama regiments excelled it in point of military 
proficiency. 



Southern Martyrs. 



29 



COMPANY H. 

Bessemer Kifles. 



Thomas T. Huky, Captain. 
James B. IIoustux, 1st. Lieut. Jamks M. Pkrkins, 2d. Lieut. 

Sergeants: 

Louis N. ]MuIlen, First Sergeant. Nick L. Nail, (^'master Sergeant. 
AVm. J^dwards, Grey J. Huffman, 

Joe H. Wiles, Gus A. Hagan. 

Corporals : 

C. E. Falkner, Hugo Bobbins, 

Joe T. Crawford, Joe F. Hines, 

Ed A. Linch, John Reilly. 

Frank Lyons, 

Charles Seay and Paul Copeland, iMusicians 
A. H. H. Poppe, Artificer. Tho£. L. iS;,xon, Wagoner. 

Privates : 

Fuls, Adolph, 



Adams, Ed., 
Allbright. Z. B., 
Annesley. Jack, 
Ayers, Hubert L., 
Babcock, Wirt A., 
Balcomb, W . W., 
Baxley, Benj. F., 
Bethea, J. F., 
Blankenship, Richard, 
Blevins, Chas. H., 
Bond, Wm., 
Bullard, Geo., 
Cadeiihead, W. A., 
Gates, Chas., 
Camp, Jas. H., 
Cole, Wm. R., 
Curren, Joiin, 
Craig, Abe, 
Davidson, John, 
Dotinell, T. John, 
Edmonson, L. E., 
Edmonson, Joe, 
Edwards, C. B., 
Fuhrman, J, F., 



Gary, Thos., 
Gentry, Jas. H., 
Gerst, Chas., 
Gibb, John, 
Gladden, Jack, 
Goocher, Joe., 
Graham, Miner E., 
Gurney, J. Frank, 
Hale, George, 
Hardwick, Chas. P. 
Harry, Lawrence, 
Hoster, Adolph E. 
Houston, Geo., 
Howard, Edw. G., 
Hyland, Dennis J. 
Kelly, W. Edw., 
Kelly, John, 
Knapp, Anton, 
Kobler, James F., 
Lipscomb, J. A., 
Mahone, Wm. L., 
Marbut, Harry I., 
Martin, Arthur M., 



30 



Men of the First Alabama. 



Miller, Joel, 
Miller, Dave, 
Moral), Thos. W., 
Motley, Jas. H., 
Mullins, Wm. D., 
Norris, J. C, 
Norris, M. Luther, 
Nunnally, Wm. G., 
Pai'sons, Ira, 
Pinkerton, Chas., 
Pendley, J. J., 
Polk, Dave A., 
Raybon, George, 
Ragsdale, Eugene, 
Reeves, E. A., 
Reeves, T. 0., 
Robertson, John, 
Robertson, Robert L., 
Russell, JohnC, 
Salter, John D., 



Sapp, Ben. R., 
Schaffer. Albert, 
8exton, Wm. E., 
Simmons, R. L. , 
Simmons, W. S. H., 
Smith, E.C._, 
Smith, Lawrence, 
Spain, F. J., 
Taylor, (3. IL, 
Thomas, Henry, 
Tragesser, Fred. C, 
Tremholm, C. V., 
Tussie, D. C, 
Waller, E. L., 
Weed, J. Walter, 
Westberg. Knute, 
Williams, W. Lon, 
Wilson, CO., 
Witherspoon, Hugh, 
Zolleycoffer, Jas. W. 



Company H was organized in Bessfimer, Ala., on April 
1-2, 1890, by T. J. Cornwell, a prominent busine.ss man. He 
served two years as captain and was succeeded by Thomas 
M. Owens, a lawyer and son-in-law of Congressman Bank- 
head. Captain Owens, who made a most eflScient officer, 
resigned to accept a federal position. His successor, George 
D. Waller, "rose from the ranks." In June, 1894, he com- 
manded his company at Ensley, Ala., with the result that 
no organization in the state won more laurels during the 
labor troubles of thatyear than did the Bessemer Rifles. 

Captain Waller resigned to study medicine, leaving Ala- 
bama for that purpose. The "war captain," Thomas T. 
Huey, who succeeded him, was no less popular than his 
predecessors. Captain Huey was city treasurer of Bessemer 
when the national call to arms came. He relinquished a charm- 
ing home and excellent civic prospects to lead his company. 

In Company H, military competence was common. AH 
the company's commanders, save the first, worked their 
way up from the ranks ; and among the "non-coms" were 
men who had at different times demonstrated their fitness 
to command companies. One of these. Sergeant Gus 
Hagan, served for a time in the national guard as first 
lieutenant of the Lomax Rifles, of Mobile. 



Southern Marttes. 



31 



COMPANY D. 

Aiiuistou Rifles (Regimental Color Company), 



Geo. W. Tumlin, Captain. 

Brknton R. Field, 1st Lieut. Hamilton Bowie, 2d Lieut. 

Serjeants : 

C. W. Sproull, First Sergeant, Jas. A. Wilkerson.Q'm'terSergt. 



James B. Garrison, 
Charles H. Jackson, 



Chas. A. Wilkerson, 

A. N. McLeod, Color Sergeant. 

Corporals : 

J.J. Gladden, 
FredH. Roussaville, 
B. W. Ingersoll, 



S. F. Cornelius, 
Sam Noble, 
F W. Beasley, 
Howards. Williams, 

George Worth, Chas. Herron, Hance Hall, Musicians 
Burke Hanford, Artificer. J. P. Hale, Wagoner. 

Frank Rohner, Mascot. 

Privates : 



Arberry, Wakefield. Transferred 

to Ho^[>ital Corps. 
Adams, Wm. H. , 
Amrin, Wm., 
Brown, W. E., 
Banks, Walter, 
Bates, Clanton, 
Benford, Benjamin, 
Blake, Asa, 
Boguski, Wm , 
Bowman, W. D., 
Black; R. C, 
Branch, Henry, 
Burge, James, 
Burns, Ben E., 
Burns, John F., 
Breadion, Wm., 
Carter, Thos,, 
Cary, Edgar, 
Comeaux, W. E,, 
Cook, Wm., 
Costner, Alfred, 



Conyers, E. L., 
Coulter, N. H., 
De Loney, O. T., 
Evans, W. G., 
Emberg, Oscar, 
Fancher, Eugene, 
Freeman, Ernest, 
Flynn, Owen, 
Frederick, Wm., 
Futrell, G W., 
Gilbert, Lon, 
GofF, J. W., 
Griffln. Luther, 
Gunn, Elwood, 
Guill, ReuV)en, 
Goeddel,J. Albert, 
Hall, R. E., 
Hall, Leo. J., 
Hampton, John.S., 
Hutchens, Henry, 
Head, Joe, 
Hogan, R. J., 



32 



Men of the First Alabama. 



Herz, Carl, 
Inman, Jas. B., 
Jackson, Sydney, 
Jackson, W. F., 
Johnson, Columbus, 
Kopp, Fred, 
Killough, W. S., 
Land, H. W, 
Lane, Wynatt, 
Lay ton, Chas., 
Learned, W. L., 
Lloyd, S. C, 
McDonald, Jas. D , 
McRae, Harrison, 
McGowan, W. W., 
McMillen, LaFayette, 
Mordue, Robert, 
Moore, E. H , 
Minor, S. D., 
Nabers, French, 
Purdy, Bradley, 
Randolph, Arthur. 
Rogers, J. W., 
Reeves, Wm., 
Ritch.A. E.. 
Ryan, Patrick. 

The Anniston Rifles were among the first companies to 
report for duty at Camp Clark. The command's credit- 
able record in the state militia was sustained in the volun- 
teer army. Indeed, Company D was one of those com- 
panies from which little was heard save when need of their 
services arose. Then, the entire command met the emer- 
gency as one man. 

Company D's position as the right center company of the 
Second Battalion entitled it to the colors, A. N. McLeod 
being appointed the color sergeant before Camp Clark was 
fairly established. The company reached Mobile, May 1, 
and was mustered in May 13. 



Reynolds, AVm., 

Salmon, Newman, 

Sansom, Collier, 

Sellers, W. D., 

Smith, Richard, 

Samples, H. S., 

Schmitt, Theo., 

Skudlas, Andrew, 

Sutton, J. W., 

Tally, J. W., 

Tensley, Oakley, 

Thomas, Chas., 

Turner, Lon, 

Turner, Jake, 

Vann, D. Paul. Transferred to 

Hospital Corps. 
"Watson. Chas. P. , 
Watts, John T., 
Williams, Tom, 
\\'illiams, Tom G., 
Williams, W. H., 
Westbrook. M. C, 
Whisenant, R. G. , 
Young, John W ., 
Yongue, Willie. Discharged. 




CAPT. NEWMAN D. LACY, 
Co. L, First Regiment Ala. Vols. 



SouTHEKN Martyrs. 



33 



COMPANY M. 

Clark Rifles (Pratt City and Talladega). 



RoMAiNE Boyd, Captain. 

Thomas Hardeman, 1st Lieut. R. G. Mallett, 2d Lieut. 

Sergeants : 

H. S. Meade, First Sergeant. D. P. Armstrong, Q'master Sgt. 

C. L. Cansler, Peter Meehl, 

Jack Fallon, Charles Caldwell. 

Corporals : 

Z. W. Grogan, 
Hugh Montgomery, 
Isaac B. Price. 
Fred. Raper, Musician. 
Z. B. Bonner, Artificer. E. B. Costner, Wagoner. 

Privates : 



John B. Askew, 

F. A. Meier, 

J. C. Scarbrough, 



Atchison, L., 
Ballard, G. W., 
Barnhill, G. R., 
Bergin, John D., 
Biddington, S., 
Bowie, Leroy, 
Braden, Wm. B., 
Brame, Jas. E., 
Brewer, E. A., 
Burkholder, C. F., 
Callahan, F. A., 
Davidson, D., 
Davis, Thos. G., 
Davis, W. G., 
Delp, Grant, 
Durrett, James, 
Edney, Wm. A., 
Fancher, R. M., 
Fancher, Wm. S., 
Findlay, Joe M., 
Franklin, Wm. M. 
Godley, Charles, 
George, James, 
8 



Dead, 



Harvill, L. B., 
Haun, John W., 
Henderson, E., 
Hobbs, M. D., 
Hyde, H., 
Isbell, Thos. L., 
Kelly, Mike, 
Langford, Wm. H., 
Lemon, H. H., 
Leonard, Ernest, 
Lewis, Edward, 
Lynn, Earnest, 
Martin, Landy, 
Martin, Ed., 
Mason, Dick, 
McCann, M. J., 
McClung, D. D., 
Milam, W. H., 
Moon, Lonie. Deserted. 
Nichols, F., 
Oliver, J. B., 
Oliver, R. A., 
O'Niell, A., 



34: Men of the First Alabama. 

Palvado, C, Sims, Wm. C, 

Parker, M.W., Slate, John M., 

Peebles, John T., Smith, Wm., 

Pennington, N. B., Smith, J. S., 

Powers, E., Smithson T., 

Putnam, W. D., Speer, Samuel J., 

Phillips, E. T., Stack, Hugh, 

Price, Jack, Stewart, James H., 

Prowell, R. A., Stich, Fred M., 

Prowell, Wm. J., Sullivan, D., 

Reese, Geo. B., Tankersly. D. D., 

Reeves, Fred, Trent, Charles A., 

Rooks, Robert, Turner, John, 

Koyster, F. M., Tyson, Claudius, 

Scarbrough, J. H., Vincent, A., 

Seibert, Adolph, Ware, B. M., 

Sewell, Wm. H., Williams, J. L., 

Shore, 0. G., Hodo, Joe M. 
Simpson, Frank, 

H. Brada, committed suicide, July 12, 1898, at Miami, Fla. 

On April 26, 1898, just five days after war was declared 
by tlie United States and three days after Governor John- 
ston's call for volunteers, application was made to the state 
executive for permission to raise a company of eighty men 
at Pratt City, Ala. But four days remained until the date 
set for the First Kegiment's departure from Birmingham 
for Mobile. About sixty men had signed papers in Pratt 
City agreeing to volunteer, but the approach of May 1 ren- 
dered them restless and many threatened to join other com- 
panies unless their own command was at once completed. 
At that juncture, General L. V. Clark, who was in close 
touch with the whole military organization of the state, 
effected a consolidation between the Pratt City men 
headed by Thomas Hardeman and E. D. Johnston and 
a similar body from Talladega under Eomaine Boyd. 
It was understood that the Pratt City contingent would 
name the two lieutenants while the leader of the Talla- 
dega element was to become captain. Before the muster, 



Southern Martyrs. 35 

however, E. D. Jolmston was named regimental adjutant 
and K G. Mallett succeeded him as one of the Pratt City 
leaders. On May 1, the company left for Mobile, the state 
rendezvous, Captain Boyd departing from Talladega with 
thirty-one men and the Pratt City contingent leaving Bir- 
mingham, thirty strong. The latter party originally num- 
bered forty-three but thirteen of them were lost in the im- 
mense throngs that crowded the depot at Birmingham. 
Nine of those left behind followed afterward, however, 
through the instrumentality of A. J. Eeilly, of Pratt City, 
who had already befriended the company in various ways. 

At Mobile, non-commissioned officers were chosen as fol- 
lows : J. G. Meagher, first sergeant ; D. D. McClung, quar- 
termaster sergeant; J. H. Stewart, Tully Smithson and 
P. W. Gooch, sergeants ; Jack Fallon, Peter Meehl, Dick 
Mason and John B. Askew, corporals ; Z. B. Bonner, artifi- 
cer ; E. B. Costner, wagoner ; and Fred Raper, musician. 

When the company was finally assigned to its position in 
the regiment it was decided to adopt the name " Bowie Vol- 
unteers," in honor of Mr. Sid Bowie, who spent considerable 
time and money in aiding the organization. But the state 
press insisted on crediting General L. Y. Clark with the 
company and dubbed the command " Clark Rifles. " This 
name clung to the company throughout its service. 

Changes were made in the non-commissioned personnel 
by reason of physical rejections and disabilities incurred in 
camp life. But the commissioned ofiicers remained the 
same despite an unpleasant campaign that was conducted 
by a clique against the captain. This coterie's disaffection 
became so marked and tangible at Camp Cuba Libre that a 
round robin secured numerous signatures requesting that 
a board of inquiry be selected to investigate certain charges. 
This board had successive sittings but the order directing 
the regiment's muster out was announced before the matter 
reached a finality. 



36 Men of the First Alabama. 

Company M's organization was the cause of a spirited 
newspaper controversy between R. 0. McFarland, ex-captain 
of Company B, and Governor Johnston. McFarland had 
requested permission to raise a company in Lauderdale 
County, but when failure stared him in the face he 
consented to a coalition with Captain Boyd, yielding to 
the latter the captaincy. Afterward, however, it was 
asserted that he had misrepresented the number of his fol- 
lowers and the company's first lieutenancy was given to 
Hardeman. Then Lieutenant Mallett's claims were pre- 
sented for the second lieutenancy and when McFarland 
found himself " frozen out, " he left Camp Clark in high 
dudgeon. A few days later he was fatally wounded in a 
primary election brawl in the courthouse at Florence. 



Southern Martyrs. 



37 



COMPANY I. 

Oxford Rifles. 



Arthur Harrison, Captain. 
Tom B. Cooper, 1st. Lieut. Clifton L. Sitton, 2d. Lieut. 

Sergeants : 
M Armstrong, First Sergeant. Ross Green, Q'master Sergeant. 



Jas. 

O. Augustus Hilton, 

David W. Shuford, 



John M. Davis, 
Joseph V. Mallory, 
David Smyth, 
Lewis Postell, 
Hampton Draper, 

Wm. J. Dodge and Wm 
Wm. J. Austin, Artificer. 

Privates 



D. Houston Smith, 
Joseph J. Taylor. 

Corporals : 

George Thomas, 
Joseph A. Hardin, 
Chas. P. Nunnally, trans- 
ferred to hospital corps, 
June 18. 
Horton, Musicians. 

John A. Barker, Wagoner. 



H. 



Allison, Joshua, 
Austin, Alonzo, 
Brewrton, Jas., 
Bass, Wm., 
Brown, Lonnie, 
Beddoe, George, 
Bush, George R., 
Carr, Toney, 
Cotney, John J , 
Cotney, Ferrell, 
Crow, Jas. R., 
Chambers, Henry L . , 
Carnell, Frank, 
Couch, Carter, 
Casper, Clem A., 
Cannon, Samuel P., 
Driver, Ai-chie R., 
Dunlap, Charlie, 
Feminear, Joseph L., 
Fortner, Wm. T , 
Franklin, Wm. J., 



Fulton, Ezekiel, . 

Fulbright, Rufus J., 

Fox, Mike, 

Gaines, Nicholas P. Died June 7. 

Greer, Wm . R . , 

Glover, Willis B., 

Gentry, Walter, 

Gilmore, Wm., 

Graves, Joseph A., 

Hallifield, Willie, 

Hai-ris, Frank. Transferred to 

hospital corps. 
Hayden, Thos. , 
Hand, Chas. C, 
Hamilton, Chas. W., 
Hewett, Edward, 
Heuse, Ed., 
Hogue, Thos., 
Horton, Jesse D., 
Johnson, John, 
Johnson, Ernest S. , 



Men of the First Alabama. 



JefiFers, Robert H. Deserted 


Shipper. Jas. L., 


Aug. 7. 


Stockdale, Colin, 


Jones,. John L., 


Bullivan, Richard 0., 


Jones, Thos., 


Steele, Wm ., 


Justice, Luther, 


Smith, Edgar 1)., 


Kenneybrook, David, 


Sorrell, Thos. G., 


Lewis, Jas. S., 


Sanders, Jas. P. Deserted 


Larsen, Norender, 


June 7. 


Lott, Jesse G., 


Shirley, Ed., 


McClurkin, Wm. T., 


Smith, Allen, 


Meagher, Wm. P., 


Setliff, Wm. A. Discharged 


Mallory, David M,, 


August 5. 


Mason, VA\od L., 


Thomas, Frank M., 


McCullis, Burrell, 


Tigett, Charley R., 


McMillan, Luke 11., 


Tigett, Porter, 


Merritt, Clifford S., 


Tice, Wm. G., 


McConnell, Reuben D., 


Thompson, William. Died 


Mims, Jas. W., 


Sept. 2L 


McGorman, John, 


Werner, Frank, 


Nichols, Chas. D.. 


Womack, Chas. A., 


Olsen, Olen J. Died June 9. 


Wedge worth, Wm. A., 


I'hillips, Robert VV., 


Wood, jWm. M. Discharged 


Ponder, John J., 


Aug. 5. 


Posey, Ambrose P., 


White, Elijah F., 


Roberson, Randall R , 


Williams, Claude H., 


Ray, Ernest P., 


Yds, p. G., 


Reynolds, Frank D., 


Yeatman, John F. 



The company designated as the Calhoun Rifles in the 
Alabama National Guard came to be known as the Oxford 
Pvifles in the volunteer array. This was largely because the 
soldiers in the patriot army were inclined to mention com- 
panies by the names of the towns from which a majority of 
the members hailed. Company I was composed of an 
earnest set of men who sought from the outset to familiarize 
themselves with the duties and tasks of active campaigning. 
And the success that attended their efforts was best shown 
by the satisfaction that the men gave as a command. 

The Calhoun or Oxford liilles reached Camp Clark on 
May 1 and were mustered in May 14, 1898. 



Southern Martyrs. 



39 



COMPANY C, 

Etowiih Hilles. (Gadsden, Ala.) 



Nelson G. Canxing, Captain. 

Joseph L. Daniel, 1st Lieut. William A. Hasson, 2d Lieut. 

Serg'eaiits: 

William A. Echols. 1st Sergeant. Wm.U. Daughdrill.Q'master Sgt. 
Wm. P. Gwin, Louis W. Pope, 

Earl Lay, Thos. McHan. 

Corporals: 

Wm. E. Hughes, Edgar G. Allison, 

John D. Daughdrill, Edwin B. Slack, 

Chas. O. Duncan, Chas. O. Watt. 

Edward M. Standifer and Jesse Turrentine, Musicians. 

Ira R. Foster, Company Clerk. Hubbard L. Hodge, Artificer. 

Boyd Hamlin, Wagoner. 

Privates: 



Arteberry, Jas. R., 

Acker, Peter D., 

Anderson, John C, 

Addington, Augustus, 

Abney, Luke L., 

Boaleh, George R., 

Burns, Henry R., 

Bain, Robt., 

Burton, Samuel, 

Beard, Elli B., 

Boyle, Roddy, 

Bilbe, Chas. Transferred to 

Co. I. 
Coleman, Wm., 
Cline, Bob J., 
Gaston, Alvah, 
Cook, Martin V., 
Collins, John A,, 
Chitwood, R. L., 
Durham, John D., 
Davis, Lewis, 



Dossett, Wm. L., 
Dinning, Joseph, 
Duran, Bub, 
Dupuy, Wm. L., 
Dunlap, Robert H., 
Devine, AVm. L., 
Erskine, Walter, 
Gardner, Jas. M., 
Gilbreath. P^dward W. 
Giles, Dock J., 
Goddard, Wm. S., 
Guined, John B., 
Hill, John W., 
Hannah, J. W. Died. 
Hass, Wm. F., 
Horton, Jesse B., 
Hood, Ollie, 
Harrison. Henry, 
Holland, John W., 
Hinds, James, 
Hunter, Jas. L., 



40 



Men of the First Alabama. 



Harbour, John A . , 
Harnesberger, G. C, 

red to Co. B. 
Hall, Ed, 
Headley, Harry, 
Harrelson, W. M., 
Jones, John H., 
Jordan, Albert, 
Johnson, Watson C, 
Jones, Wm. J., 
Johnson, Wm. N., 
Keith, Geo. T., 
Lister, Noah E . , 
Lipscomb, Robt. L., 
Montgomery, Chas. 

Transferred to Band 
Moore, Lawson L., 
Moore, Jas. F.,' 
Marble, Maurice D., 
Marble, Alister E . . 
McCartney, Mabry, 
McMunn, John, 
McGrew, Frank M., 
Mackey, Wm. D., 
McNaren, John, 
McCurdy, Chas. H., 
McQueen, John R., 
McDonald, Jas., 
Moragne, A. W., 



Mack, Wm 

Transfer- Band. 

Mitchell, Frank B., 
Miller, John E., 
Norris, Chas. F., 
Norman, Rex, 
Naugher, Kitrell, 
Naugher, Neal J., 
Nix, Calvin, 
Paden, John S. , Jr., 
Paschall, Florence E 
ferred to Co. B. 
Quirk, Edwin A., 
Riley, AValter, 

G . , Jr . Roberts, Oscar W . , 

Richley, Geo, C, 
Rich, 8amuel T., 
Rhodes, Jason H., 
Roden, Jas. B., 
Slater, John R., 
Sutton, Stephen D., 
Sibert, Olin W., 
Shatzen, M. L., 
Stallings. Thos., 
Smith, Oliver C, 
Tully, Louis C, 
Willis, Jas. M., 
Wilson, Chas. T., 
Williamee,"Robt., 
Young, Reuben, 



J. Transferred to 



Trans- 



Mills, John W., 

The Etowah Eifles (Company C) became a national guard 
organization in 1882, one of the company's lieutenants at 
that time being H. B. Foster, afterward colonel in the state 
militia and in May, 1898, appointed senior major of the Sec- 
ond Alabama. In 1886, the Etowah Rifles were ordered to 
Round Mountain, a mining town, to quell a riot. Again, in 
1894, the company aided in the preservation of peace at 
Ensley City, being commanded at that time by Capt. L. L. 
Herzberg. 

On April 29, 1898, the company, under the command of 
Capt. Nelson G. Canning, offered itself with fifty-nine enlisted 
men for service against Spain. The company left Gadsden 
for Mobile, May 1, 1898, with forty recruits and was mus- 
tered in, May 13. 



SouTHEEN Martyrs. 



41 



COMPANY E, 

Joe Johnstou Rifles. (Decatur, Ala.) 



William E. Wallace, Captain. 
Mitchell N. Pride, 1st. Lieut. Wm. J. Webb, 2d. Lieut. 

Sergeants: 
Caesar E. Marks, First Sergeant. John H. Albes, Q. M. Sergeant. 



James W. Joplin, 
James H. McCoy, 



Philip P. Hawkins, 
Graham Banks. 



Nelson C. White, 
Rolston C. Cosby, 
Burton E. Gillespie, 



Corporals: 

Walter J. Andrews, 
James A. McPheeters, 
William F. McClary. 
Jo H. Carothers and Carl I. Nelson, Musicians. 
Peter Borgeson, Artificer. Miles W. Phillips, Wagoner, 

Privates: 

Duke, William R., 



Alexander, John R., 

Almon, Dee, 

Anderson, Olaus, 

Bacon, John E., 

Ballew, William T., 

Banks, Baylor, 

Bates, John W., 

Betz, H. Clay. 

Black, Charles B., 

Bracken, Martin A., 

Brown, Edgar R., 

Brown, John W., 

Burwell, John T., 

Blanton, Samuel V., 

Oarruth, Edwin F., 

Christensen, Henry A., 

Christensen, Myron J., 

Coles, Peter M., 

Cook, Robert W., 

Cooper, John B. Discharged 

Dobbins, John M., 

Drawbaugh. John H., 

Deuring, C. H. F., 



Duncan, Hugh B., 
Ehrensperger, J. J., 
Elmore, Charles H., 
Epperson, John I., 
Golladay, Ottway S. Transfer- 
red to Signal Corps. 
Harr, Robt. W., 
Hollinger, Perry A., 
Horton, John F. Dead. 
Huff, Harry D., 
Hunt, Oscar M., 
Jackson, Jas. L., 
Johnson, Ben J. Jr., 
Jones, John C, 
Keeley, Charles J., 
Kontzen, Noble, 
Lamb, Jas. L., 
Lance, James O., 
Lerman, Isaac, 
Lewis, John H., 
Lucas, Charles C, 
Martin, Charles J., 



42 



Men of the First Alabama. 



Meacher, George W., 
Myers, Ellsworth, 
McBee, Henry B., 
McCormiek, Robert B., 
McNew, Frank B., 
Neaves, John H., 
Neaves, William, 
Neely, Philip T., 
Norris, Lucien B., 
O'lveai'y, Arthur, 
O'Neil, George W., 
Plemons, Horace N. 
Powers, John D., 
Ragsdale, George W., 
Raney, Harry, 
Richard, John H., 
Rich, James B. Discharged. 
Roberts, John F., 
Robinson, John C, 
Russell, Ben F., 



Russell, Bert, 
Ross, Mitchell A., 
Samples, James E., 
Simms, William H., 
Shindlebower, Charles C, 
Stanley, John E., 
Story, Claude E., 
Sturdivant, Robert L , 
SuckfuU, George A., 
Terry, John T., 
Thieman, Edward R., 
Tingle, George S., 
Todd, Robert A., 
Tripp , Henry, 
Uehlein, William B., 
Unphrey. John D., 
Walker, Jolin W., 
Walson, Sandy G., 
Wynn, John W. 



The Joe Johnston Rifles (Company E) assumed their name 
in the martial spirit that prompted the com])any's organiza- 
tion. . All through the April weeks in which the war hori- 
zon grew darker and darker, William E. Wallace was urging 
the young men of Decatur to " be up and doing." Finally, 
a meeting was held on the evening of April 29, 1898. 
Already hostilities had been declared, and the yeomanry 
and chivalry of Decatur were burning with patriotic ardor. 
At 9 p. m. it was declared that an organization had been 
consummated, and Captain O. Kyle was authorized to tele- 
graph to the governor the company's anxiety to fight. An 
hour and a half later an answer was received accepting 
the company's services. On May 1, the Joe Johnston 
Kifles, seventy-six strong, arrived in Mobile. 

The company was mustered into the volunteer service on 
May 13, 1898. But Captain Kj^le having been appointed 
major of the Third Battalion, First Lieutenant W. E. Wal- 
lace was made captain; Second Lieutenant M. N. Pride, 



Southern Martyrs. 43 

elevated to first lieutenant, and First Sergeant W. J. Webb 
elected as second lieutenant. 

June 13, 18S8, the Joe Johnston Rifles were the centre 
of a very pretty flag presentation ceremony, Miss Mamie 
Wallace, the then nine-year-old daughter of Captain Wal- 
lace, presenting to the company, in touching words, a hand- 
some banner given by the people of the two Decaturs. 



44 



Men op the First Alabama. 



COMPANY F. 

Hnntsville Rifles. 



n. C. Laugfilix, Captain. 
Robert Searcy Dement, 1st Lieut. T. M. Hooper, 2d Lieut. 

Sergeauts: 

J. L. Winston, First Sergeant. Hyram Burrow, Q'master Sergt. 
Marvin McCary, Chas. M. Ford, 

J. C. McDonald, Chas. F. Snyder. 

Corporals: 

Jas. H. Mustin, Kugene Binford, 

Herbert McLaurine, Nat Power. 

S. M. Stewart, Jr., Geo W. Vogel. 
Otto Kullman, 

P. M. Sloss, Company Clerk. 

Chas. n. Halsey, Jr., and Bernard K. Rudford, .Musicians. 

Allie F. Hall, Artificer. 

J. H. Cunningham, Wagoner. 

Privates : 



Anderson, W. A. Discharged. 

Aday, AVillett, 

Alexander, Walter, 

Allen, AV. C, 

Barlow, J. H. Transferred to 

Hospital Corps. 
Bennett, W. G.. 
Blakeney, H. W., 
Brock, J. P., 
Brooks, M. C, 
Bryant, M. L., 
Blair, D. L., 
Blunt, Jas. A., 
Buford, R. M., 
Buchanan, O., 
Buchanan, J. E., 
Campbell, Add, 
Campbell, Wm., 
Cleveland, L. S., 
Coole, W. A., 



Clark, Wm., 
Cramer, Carl, 
Crute, J. P., 
Collett, J O., 
Daniel, K. T., 
Daniel, John W., 
Denton, James E., 
Echoff, Frank, 
Floyd, S. H., 
Fletcher, Robt , 
Fulgham, Jas. B., 
Fullington, M. B , 
Gaines, Victor H., 
Gaines, Ira C, 
Green, Wm. T., 
Herz, Wm. G., 
Hill, Samuel, 
Hill, Forest, 
Hite, David, 
Hughes, Enoch F., 



Southern Martyes. 



45 



Helvesson, Laurin, 
Jaens, John F., 
Jett, David B., 
Jackson, Kufiis F., 
King, Edw. L., 
Lauderdale, Thos., 
Lewis, Frank, 
Lowe, John T., 
Lyons, Harry, 
Mullens, Winburn, 
Moore, Horatio R., 
McMahan, John J., 
Mason, Thos. J., 
Norwood W. R., 
O'Reilly, Geo., 
Pritchard, Roy A., 
Pickard, Wm. F., 
Poe, Sam T., 
Power, Herbert, 
Requette, Joseph, 
Reynolds, Archie J., 
Roberson, John C, 
Sample, Abner C, 

Twice the name of the Huntsville Rifles was chaDged. 
The company was reorganized from the Madison Rifles 
which made a record in the war of the '60's. After that re- 
organization, the command was known for years as the 
Monte Sano Light Guards. Then, when service in the vol- 
unteer army came, the name was changed to Huntsville 
Rifles. 

The company reached Camp Clark, May 3, and was mus- 
tered in. May 13. Some of the incidents in the company's 
early volunteer record were recounted in the Mobile 
Register of June 13, 1898, as follows : 

"It was learned uuofiicially yesterday that Capt. R. L. 
Hay, Company F, has resigned his commission. Captain 
Hay has had considerable trouble with some of his men 
since he has been here. It developed that one man in the 
company, Private F. W. Reed, is insane, and his discharge 



Schulz, Louis, 
Schwenke, August, 
Searcy, R. T., 
Shafer, C. C, 
Shafer, W. F., 
Scott, Thos. M., 
Spriggs, J. Allen. 
Smith, Houston J., 
Smith, L. H. 
Street, R. E , 
Steger, Marion E. 
Stewart. C. A., 
Stewart, C. H., 
Stewart, Joseph 
Taylor, Wm. T., 
Vann, Pat, 
AVest, Albert M., 
Webb, Marshall C. 
W^illcut, Sam, 
Williams, Mack, 
Woodward, John W. 
Worley, Rufus J., 



46 Men of the First Alabama. 

is now peDcling. Again, Sergeant Hall of this company was 
stricken with varioloid and removed to the county pest- 
house. His messmates, four sergeants, are now in isola- 
tion, and practically all of the company work has devolved 
on Captain Hay. His men have complained constantly of 
not getting sufficient rations, although the quartermaster 
states they were supplied the same as other companies who 
are faring all right. On one occasion, a large number of 
the men of Company F refused to do drill duty because 
they were not properly cared for. They were, of course, 
placed under arrest. Regimental officers claim that the 
trouble with the company is mismanagement, and conse- 
quently Captain Hay has tendered his resignation, which 
has been forwarded to the War Department." 

After Captain Hay's resignatiou, the captaincy was filled 
by First Lieutenant Laughlin's promotion, the second lieu- 
tenant becoming first lieutenant and First Sergt. T. M. 
Hooper being elected second lieutenant. 

That the Huntsville llitles bore with them the best wishes 
of their home town was evidenced by the handsome banner 
presented by the peojile of Huntsville to the compauy and 
the substantial cash donations made from time to time to 
purchase comforts for the command. 



Southern Martyrs. 



47 



COMPANY B. 

Wheeler Rifles (Florence, Ala.) 



Wm. Mitchell Martin, Captain. 
RoBT. L. Brown, 1st Lieut. Robt. E. Simpson, 2d Lieut. 

Sergeants : 
Robt. M. Martin, First Sergeant. James J. Challen.Q'm'ter Sergt. 



H. A Frantz, 
John VV. Martin, 



S. P. McDonald, 
Price Abernathy. 

Corporals : 

D. P. Bibb, 

W. L. Lawrence, 

Tom E. Sanford, 



Andrew Sharp, 
Henry J. Moore, 
Jas. A. Burger, 
M. W. Keen an, 

n. B. Garrett and John Williams, Musicians. 
Andrew Smith, Artificer. N. D. Phillips, Wagoner 

Privates: 



Arthur, G. C, 
Armstead, (uis, 
Armstead, Ike. 
Alexander, S. E., 
Autry, Elmoi-e, 
Bernst, O. M., 
Brown, Kobt. , 
Bowen, D. V., 
Brown, Geo. L., 
Burcham, Sam, 
Byrd, Bob, 
Curry, Jas. F. , 
Crow, J. M., 
Creel, Geo., 
Coyle,Mike, 
Challen, Frank N., 
Chambliss, Pomroy, 
Castile, Frank, 
Dill, Frank, 
Dean, Lawrence, 
Day, Ed, 



Evans, Ed, 
Ferguson, J. B , 
Harrison, Green, 
Houston, Irvine, 
Hindman, Sam C. , 
Hipp. Geo. C, 
Holden, J.M., 
Hyde, Ike, 
Hendrix, Pei'cy R., 
Horton, D. P., 
Hauerwas, J. C, 
Julian, Wm. C, 
James, Chas. , 
Johnston, H. M., 
McDaniel, OIlie Thomas 
McPeters, A. L., 
Matthews, E. .\ , 
Morrison, J. W., 
Morrison, F. O., 
McDonald, F. M., 
McKey, R.'B., 



48 



Men of the First Alabama. 



McKey, p. L., 

Morgan, 15. P., 

Millard, L. M.. 

Nichols, J. A., 

Norris.Chas. F., 

Patton.T. D., 

Paulk,.!. C, 

Potts, John, 

Powers, C. J., 

Pride, Wm. M., Jr. Dead. 

Pride, Joe P., 

Pruett, E. AV., 

Pullen, Webb M., 

Pullen.AVm. H., 

Rhodes, W. E., 

Rossen, W. M , 

Rogers, F. M., 

Russell, Henry J , 

Scales, Vance, 

Simpson, Richard W ., 

Sutton, M. M., 

Sherman, W. T., 

Stephenson, W. AV., 



Satterfield, E. H., 
Stout, E. C, 
Stafford, John R., 
Sweeten, A. E., 
Seawell, R. F., 
Simmons, Wm. J., 
Sehiill, Geo., 
Sagely, J. 0., 
Tompkins, Ernest, 
Thornton, M , 
Walters, Elsie, 
Wiggins, Henry, 
Wiley. F.F., 
Waters, E. B., 
Weston, J. M., 
Young, J. E., 

DISCHARGEU 



McFarland, A. 
Lay, B. C, 
Torian, Sam, 
INIoody, Otis. 



Sergeant, 



Company B, the Wheeler Rifles, came into existence in 
1887-88. Julian Field was the first captain. At Birrainpr- 
ham, duriup; the industrial demonstrations and difficulties 
of 1894, the company was of material service. On three 
different occasions, the command was called out to guard 
the county jail at Florence from the violence of mobs which 
had gathered to lynch prisoners. 

Forty of the company's fifty members volunteered their 
services for the Spanish-American war, and thirty-five of 
them finall}' reported for duty at Camp Clark in Mobile. 
R. C. McFarland, a newspaper man, who met a tragic end in 
Florence shortly after the company assembled in Mobile, 
had been captaiu, but when his commission expired a year 
before, First Lieutenant Martin was elected to succeed him. 
Second Lieutenant Brown became the first lieutenant and 
Corporal Robert E. Simpson was chosen second lieutenant. 




MAJ. HENRY B. POSTER. 
CoMMDG. First Battalion, Second Rkiiiment Ala. Vols. 



Southern Martyrs. 49 

This excerpt from a Mobile paper of May 19, 1898, tells 
matters of interest coucerning the company : 

"The Wheeler Rifles represent the highest type of North 
Alabama manhood. William Mitchell Martin, the cap- 
tain, is the youngest company commander in the state. 
He is twenty-four years old. He joined the company when 
sixteen years of age and has been with it continuously since 
that time. Captain Martin was assistant cashier of the 
Merchants' Bank of Florence when the call was made for 
volunteers. He is a son of Robert D. Martin, who was with 
Forrest's cavalry in the Confederate service. The young 
commander has a brother, Robert M. Martin, who is first 
sergeant of the company, who also gave up a lucrative posi- 
tion in a rival bank at Florence. First Lieutenant Robert 
L. Brown is a prominent young jeweler at Florence, and a 
son of Andrew Brown, who was with General Wheeler's 
cavalry in the late war. Second Lieutenant Robert E. 
Simpson, of the Wheelers, is a young lawyer of Florence, 
who was reared at Covington, Lauderdale county. His 
father, Preston Simpson, was also a member of Wheeler's 
cavalry in the late war. These three officers were tendered 
commissions in the regular army by General Joe Wheeler 
upon the declaration of war, but declined the honor in order 
to serve with the company which they had striven so hard 
to place upon the high plane it has reached as a military 
organization." 



REGIMENTAL BAND 



FIRST ALABAMA 



O. Wolff, Chief Musician. R. Emmbtt Cradhock, Drum Major. 

George W. Worth, Charles Montgomery, 

George L. Brown, Charles O Noble, 

Paul Copeland, Wade Rogers, 

Hance Hall, Forrest A. Chase, 

Sydney Ilecker, John E. Smith, 

Charles Ilerron, Fred S. Stowe, 

William Mack, John P. Terry, 

John McXulty, Wyper Menzies. 

The First Alabama band's organizatiou was not perfected 
until the regiment reached Miami. Up to that time, how- 
ever, competent musicians were being enlisted as they 
offered themselves, Fred S. Stowe having been detached 
from the Woodlawn Light Infantry and detailed to look 
after the bandmen until the musicians were organized. 

Colonel Higdou made requisition for the band instruments 
without delay. He was determined that the regiment 
should not spend the $400 or $500 necessary to purchase 
the band-pieces out of its regimental fund. He considered 
that such an amount of money could be used to better ad- 
vantage in other ways. For this reason the First Alabama 
was practically without a band until after the Miami en- 
campment. In the interim, however, every effort was made 
to have a competent set of musicians on hand to use the 
instruments when they arrived. The bandmaster was sum- 
moned from a distant part of the country and the enlisted 
bandmen were afforded every possible opportunity to prac- 
tice on makeshift or borrowed instruments. 



Southern Martyrs. 51 

August 2, 1898, Colonel Higdon was notified at Miami 
that the regiment's band instruments had been shipped to 
him. A few days later word was received that the regiment 
had been ordered to Porto Rico ; and the efforts to perfect 
the band organization were redoubled. Even after intelli- 
gence reached the regiment that it would probably not go 
to Porto Rico, the bandmaster perseveringly endeavored to 
bring his band to a high standard of musical proficiency. 

In view of the many discouraging circumstances that 
arose, it is only fair to say that the First Alabama band 
made better progress and accomplished better results than 
could have been reasonably expected of it. Indeed, before 
the muster out, the band was able to furnish very entertain- 
ing music and at Jacksonville it was one of the best features 
of the regimental dress parades. 



SECOND REGIMENT ALABAMA VOLINTEER INEANTRY. 



JAMES WADE COX, Colonel Commanding. 
WALTER A. THURSTON, Lieutknant Colonel. 

MAJORS : 

First Battalion, TIENRY B. FOSTER. 



Second Battalion, 
Third Battalion, 

SURGEONS : 

Major, 

First Lieutenant, 

First Lieutenant, 

CHAPLAIN : 

Captain, 

KEGI3IENTAL ADJUTANT: 

First Lieutenant, 

REGI3IENTAL QUARTERMASTE 

First Lieutenant, 

BATTALION ADJUTANTS : 

(First Lieutenants) 
First Battalion, 
Second Battalion, 
Third Battalion, 

NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF : 

Sergeant Major, 
Quartermaster Sergeant, 
Hospital Stewards, W. A L 
F. L, 



ROBERT B. Du MONT. 
WILLIAM W. BRANDON. 



S S. PUGH. 
JAMES N. McLAIN. 
WALTER R. WEEDON. 



A. C. HARTE. 



JOHN R. VIDMER. 



WILLIAM E. MICKLE, Jr. 



C. C. HARE. 
SHERWOOD BONNER. 
WILLIAM Y. JOHNSTON, 



E THURSTON BONHAM. 
CHARLES B. TOWNSEND. 
YTLE, COBB NICHOLS and 
HURT. 



me:n of the second Alabama. 



COMPANY A. 

Moutg'omery Greys. 

Herbert B. May, Captain. 
James H. McTykire, 1st. Lieut. Jacob T. Bullen, 2nd. Lieut. 

Sergeants : 

Harry 0. Carter, First Sergeant. Joseph G. King, Q'master Sei'gt. 
Dudley C. Williamson, John G. Williamson, 

Berto H. Johnson, David W. Crosland. 

Robert F. Rohan, Chief Trumpeter. 

Corporals : 

Walter M. Eckford, Lawrence V. Calhoun, 

Kerney W. McDade, Elwood J. Pearson, 

Robert K. Blackshear, Harry L. Trowbridge. 

John A. Lord, Musician. 
Joseph R. Williams, Artificer. John A. Oliver, Wagoner, 

Privates : 

Barron, Wallace S., Davis, Thomas W., 

Bonham, Olin F., Ennis, W^illiam H„ 

Baker, William D., Gartman, Eugene L., 

Brown, Asa W., Gingles, Harvey M., 

Buttimer, Daniel J., Grider, John D., 

Baxley, William H., Goodman, Clem, 

Blackburn, Sam M., Guy, William J., 

Bartlett, Robert L., Harmon, John L., 

Brackin, Ras L., Hillman, Hudson, 

Bingham, William H., Higgins, Bert, 

Carmichael, Malcom S., Holt, John B., 

Cardon, Jacob L., Holt, Boiling H., 

Chapman, George T., Howard, Benjamin, 

Cloud, James T., Hammond, Ab. G.; 

Clair, Earl W., Ham, Jesse M., 

Drae, Robert L., Hildbrand, John, 



54 



Men of the Second Alabama. 



Jones, Thomas, 
Jones, George W., 
Jones, Williann T., 
Jones, Joseph A., 
Judkins, Joseph H., 
Lee, John D., 
Lamb, John A., 
Led ford, James W., 
Larkin, Fay, 
Ledyard. Robert L., 
Micou, Paul I., 
Miller, William H., 
Menefee, Thomas B., 
McClung, Benjamin F., 
Massengale, William L., 
Murphree, Fames S., 
McQueen, William I*., Jr 
Mulcahy, Frank G., 
McGee, Samuel J., 
McDowell, Ray, 
Miller, Jesse G., 
McNeill, Benjamin S., 
McKinzie, Alfred J., 
Magna, Angelo, 
Mathews, Jessie, 
Norris, Charles M., 
Norris, William S , 
Owen, Robert W., 



Overton, Albert S., 
Perdue, Eugene A., 
Powers, Rutledge H., 
Pope, Albert J., 
Penick, Lucius, 
Rawlinson, Duglas, 
Rogers, Henry C., 
Rogers, Archie G., 
Roots, Charles I., 
Ruppenthal, Nathan S. L., 
Smith, James H., 
Smith, William K., 
Smith, Charles A., 
Snell,Tippie A., 
Sheder, Thomas B., 
Sykes, Joseph W., 
Stough, Sidney S., 
Stowe, Claud L., 
Simmons, Lennie P. Dead. 
Thompson, George W., 
Ticknor, Henry W., 
Taylor, Charles A., 
Whatley, Hugh, 
Worrell, Albert S., 
West, OllieG., 
Wallace, William L,, 
Williamson, Richard M., 
Weafer, James H. 



The Montgomery Greys, known throughout the country 
as one of the best militia organizations in service, had the 
inception of its reputation in the Civil "War. After the 
troublous days of reconstruction, it was reorganized and on 
various occasions rendered signal service to the state in 
quelling riots and preserving order. When the war with 
Spain came, Captain May made strenuous efforts to recruit 
his company with only the most likely-appearing volun- 
teers. He succeeded to such good purpose that when his 
command left for Mobile, May 2, 1898, it was as fine a look- 
ing body of men as had ever marched through the streets 
of Montgomery. The company was mustered in May 18. 



Southern Martyrs. 55 

Many of the members abandoned comfortable positions in 
and around Montgomery under the firm impression that 
they would see active service within a month after enlist- 
ing. Their disappointment on this score was thus made 
perhaps a trifle keener than that of some other companies, 
composed in a measure of less prosperous men. But the 
Greys never wavered in their fidelity to duty nor were they 
ever lacking in attestations of affection to their captain. 
Indeed, one of the episodes of interest at Camp Johnston 
in early May was furnished by several meetings of the 
Greys at which it was enthusiastically agreed not to take 
the oath of service unless the authorities would permit 
Captain May to lead them. These meetings were prompted 
by the illness of Captain May at the time and the circula- 
tion of rumors that the examining surgeons had rejected 
him. He was given an ovation by his men when he re- 
turned to Camp Johnston from the hospital and on his as- 
surance that he would go to the front with them, the com- 
pany cheerfully went through the muster proceedings. 

Company A's official personnel was altered only a few 
days before the Greys reported at Mobile. Clifford Lauier, 
Jr., had been captain but resigned that office to accept a 
majorship in the then Second Regiment, A. N. G. There- 
upon, Second Lieutenant H. B. May was elected captain 
and Jacob T. Bullen was chosen for the vacant second lieuten- 
ancy. 



56 



Men of the Second Alabama. 



COMPANY L. 

Plioeuix City Rifles. 



Jeptha p. Marchant, Captain. 
Francis W. Hare, 1st. Lieut. William K. Armstrong, 2nd. Lieut. 

Sergeants : 

Will D. Wills, First Sergeant. George Tillman, Q'master Sergeant. 

Martin C. Ballou, Bozemon C. Bulger, 

Heath Blanchart, Norman A. Webster. 
James B. Wood, 



Beasley M. Jones, 
Lewis D. Edwards, 
James O. Posey, 

James Alonzo Freddy an 
AValter S. Erwin, Artificer. 



Allen, Raymond, 
Alexander, Charles L., 
Amerson, Jefiferson C, 
Booth, Reading H., 
Blackmon, Thomas D., 
Bradfield, George T., 
Brown, Fred L., 
Barber, Charles J., 
Bean, William Hugh, 
Carter, Sam, 
Cartlidge, James M., 
Cartlidge, Sam D., 
Cobb, William Hood, 
Cone, Eddie H., 
Coulter, Edward, 
Cumbie, James C, 
Crawford, Walter E., 
Duke, James, 
Dyer, George, 
Dowdell, James F., 
Edwards, Locksla T. , 



Corporals : 

James T. Ware, 
William B. Reed, 
James U. Thomason. 

d E. Jerallie W. Clancy. Vlusicians. 

William Clyde Simpson, Wagoner. 

Privates : 

Elder, Charles, 
Elliott, John W., 
Fleming, John R., 
Godwin, John D., 
Goodwin, Lee, 
Greene, Richard C , 
Griggs, William P., 
Hanson, Mitchell, 
Harris, Tol, 
Harris, James W., 
Harwell, Robert H., 
Harrison, Charles T., 
Howie, James T., 
Hayes, Charles A., 
Hickman, George W., 
Hill, William L., 
Holley, Charles W . , 
Howard, AVilliam, 
Hurst, John C, 
Jenkins, Rufus L., 
Jones, Eli, 



Southern Martyrs. 



Johnson, Charles O,, 
Jackson, John P., 
Kittrell, Thomas J., 
Kelly, Alfred I., 
Logan, Robert A., 
Lowery, John T., 
Matthews, Thomas F., 
McAlpine, Solomon Q., 
McBryde, Samuel, 
Milford, Marcus L., 
McSwain, William, 
Murray, Pat., 
Mason, Robert S., Jr., 
Moore, Robert E., 
O'Hara, Ira, 
O'Pry, Hugh, 
Phillips, Fred, 
Phillips, William R., 
Parton, Thomas, 
Patrick, John H., 
Power, Edward S., 
Pace, Thomas W., 
Reese, Tobias, 
Roberts, Charles E., 

The Phoenix City Kifles (Company L) were previously 
known as the Tom Jones Eifles. After the reorganization, 
Captain Marchant assumed command and retained it through 
the volunteer service. There had been some talk of organ- 
izing a separate company of students from the military 
college at Auburn, Ala., but these volunteers joined their 
fortunes with the Phoenix City Eifles, which were accepted 
by the governor on May 3, 1898. The company left for 
Mobile on the following day, reaching Camp Johnston on 
May 6, with eighty-five men. 

B. M. Jones wore the second lieutenant's epaulettes to 
Mobile, but rejections by the surgeons depleted the 
company's strength and when William Kirk Armstrong 
reached the camp with twenty men to fill the command's 
requisite quota, he was chosen second lieutenant, Jones be- 
coming a non-commissioned oflicer. 



Rion, Frank, 
Roan, Forrest T., 
Sayers, James W., 
Smith, Perry, 
Smith, William I., 
Stanton, Eddie G., 
Speake, James D., 
Statum, Charles, 
Sweatt, Robert D., 
Seymour, Austin B., 
Thompson, Clarence C, 
Varner, John I., 
Valentine, David 0., 
Watley, Robert L., 
Walker, Wiley J., 
Whaley, Samuel C, 
Williams, Earl P., 
Williams, Joseph H., 
Williamson, Monroe, 
Woodall, Henry M., 
Worsham, Walter H., 
Weatherly, Frederick, 
Zimpelman, William F. 



58 Men of the Second Alabama. 

It was said of Company L in the Second Alabama that no 
more independent set of soldiers could be found. Captain 
Marchant, peculiarly self-reliant, communicated his spirit 
to his men and though the company was at all times efK- 
cient, the commanding officer of the regiment had reason to 
know that the Phoenix City volunteers would be among tlie 
first in his command to take the initiative in any aggressive 
company movement. This was illustrated at Camp John- 
ston. Edward S. Power was then the company's quarter- 
master sergeant. He went across the guard lines with a 
soldier from Northern Alabama and after drubbing his op- 
ponent, a larger man, was placed under arrest. Captain 
Marchant investigated the affair. Becoming convinced that 
as a non-commissioned officer Power should not be confined 
in the guard-house, the captain notified the officer of the 
day that unless his prisoner was at once released Company 
L would decline further duty in Camp Johnston. The cap- 
tain had already notified those of his men who were on 
guard to quit their posts and he was eugaged in instructing 
his company not to respond to the drill call, when Power 
reported to him that he had been released. Of course that 
was before the company had been mustered in, but in after 
days Captain Marchant assumed positions no less positive. 
Once, the captain was reprimanded by the colonel for fail- 
ing to have a water-hole filled. The captain had already 
endeavored to fill the hole but a laxity in the camp's police 
regulations frustrated his efforts. "If you can't have this 
done, I'll do it," the colonel is reported to have said. "All 
right, sir; go ahead and do it; you have more men than I 
have," the captain answered. 

Though Captain Marchant was jealous of his men's wel- 
fare he was even more careful in requiring a prompt execu- 
tion of his own orders. But he was indisposed to resort to 
the tortuous processes of courts-martial. "When any of 
you have a grievance against me," he once said to his com- 
pany, "come to me and we'll settle it like men." Once on 
the drill field at Jacksonville, Fla., a private threatened to 
strike a corporal. "Hit me, instead," the captain invited ; 
and when the offender made a surly reply the response was 
a blow on the jaw from the captain's right hand. 

And it was doubtful whether any other captain in the 
regiment had more of the real affections of his men. 



Southern Martyrs. 



59 



COMPANY F. 

Warrior Guards (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) 



Mustered in by Capt. W. W. Brandon, since appointed Major. 

Sterling Fostkr, Captain. 

Julius Levine, 1st Lieut. Charles A. Wym.an, 2d Lieut. 

Sergeants : 

John B. Battle, First Sergeant. Justin B. Turner, Q'm'stevSergt. 
Noble W. Foster, Charles A. LaBoyteaux, 



Charles A. Coleman, 



Robert Cornell, 
Thornton Parker, 
William H. Garner. 



Samuel J. Cole. 

Corporals : 

Ernest E. Kirkham, 
Graham Parker, 
James B. Coulter. 



Joseph E. McGee, John F. Parton, Musicians. 
Robert B. Sapp, Artificer. Sidney A. Cliristian, Wagoner. 

Privates : 



Allgood, Robert S., 
Anderson, Samuel, 
Adams, James T., 
Bailey, Joseph C, 
Barton, Aaron J., 
Ball, Oliver O, 
Bealle, Alfred B., 
Bell, Augustus J., 
Black, Joseph F. Dead. 
Booth, David A., 
Booth, Douglas, 
Byrd, Daniel H., 
Cardon, Samuel G., 
Chisholm, Ernest J., 
Childress, Robert M., 
Carpenter, John P., 
Clark, John W , 
Colvin, Hiram V., 
Compton, Walter H., 
Cox, Edward E , 
Crow, James, 



Dawson, Manly M., 

Davis, James L., 

Doss, Aubrey K., 

Dulin, Winston W., 

Dunn, William L., 

Ellis, Augustus B., 

Ezell, Levi A., 

Elliott. Andrew J., 

Fairless, Hugh T., 

Fitts, Fairfax, 

Foster, Otis, 

Friedman, Samuel W. Transf'd 

to Hospital Corps, July 28. 
Green, Andrew J., 
Holcombe, .Junius W., 
Hall, William C, 
Harp, John, 
Hood, James S., 
Hulsey, Stephen K., 
Jones, Ves, 
Key, Edwin A., 



60 



Men of the Second Alabama. 



Kahn, Joe, 

Killough, Willie B., 

Kilpatrick, AVilliam F., 

Korner, James W., 

Lamb, Robert E., 

Latham, James E., 

Lawhon, Alex C., 

Leach, Edward F. , 

Ledyard, Edward, 

Lynd, Ben F., 

Madden, John J., 

Malone, Richard, 

Mattison, Luther A., 

May, Eugene L., 

May, Henry C, 

Meridith, Reuben A., 

IMurphy, Tliomas J , 

Miller, Victor C, Regimental 

Color Sergeant, 
McCord, David J., 
McFarland, Douglas, 
McMaster, James M., 
McGraw, Benjamin, 
Northington, Eugene G., 
Parks, Edward D., 
Painter, William S., 



Payne, Leonard, 

Pattie, Robert F., 

Peterson, Hiram S., 

Powell, Hemrica H., 

Rabun, Luther W., 

Randan, Henry, 

Riley, Callie, 

Robison, Robert A. Honorable 

discharge, Aug. 10, 1898. 
Ross, James B , 
Ryan, James A., 
Satterwhite, Joseph L., 
Shamblin, Jacob, 
Sims, Sid L., 
Sims. William W., 
Snow, John A., 
Stapp, John D., 
Sumner, Willard, 
fetebbins, Charles M., 
Thomas, William M., 
Tutwiler, Edward M., 
Tallman, Thomas A., 
Williams, .lames, 
Wilson, Archie, 
Woodruff, Henry C, 
Yarbrough, Edward. 



Romauce and history vie with each other in lending 
interest to the record of the Warrior Guards (Company F). 
It is certain that no other militia organization in the South 
has a greater age. Indeed, there is no authoritative means 
of deciding just when the company was organized. But in 
a copy of the Daihj Infelligencer of Tuscaloosa of 1829, the 
following notice is found : 

"The Warrior Guards will meet at the market house to- 
morrow morning at 8 o'clock with twenty rounds of ammu- 
nition. Sept. 10, 1829. 

"Erasmus Walker, 

Captain. 
"A. H. Somerville, 

"Orderly Sergeant." 



Southern Martyes. 61 

There is about this notice a tinge of the early frontiers- 
man's perils. It shows that the Warrior Guards were ac- 
tive in the defense of the community in the days when 
militia service was a serious duty. Continuing through the 
stern years that followed, participating in the defensive 
plans against the savages who now and then sallied from 
their woodland fastnesses on predatory excursions, witness- 
ing successively the Seminole and the Mexican wars, the 
Warrior Guards never relaxed their military activity ; and 
in the Tuscaloosa Observer of November 21, 1860, the follow- 
ing reference to the organization was printed : 

"This splendid company of infantry has returned from 
the fair at Demopolis, laden with honors. We learn that 
they bore away the first prize offered to the competitors. 
The banner is not yet made, as it was thought it would be 
agreeable to the successful competitors to have some share 
in the selection of appropriate devices. 

"We hope our worthy governor will find it convenient to 
forv/ard the arms to which this company is entitled, as an 
army with nothing but banners will not do much service in 
the 'irrepressible conflict.' " 

Under the gallant captaincy of Kobert E. Kodes, whose 
name has since been inscribed in ineffaceable characters on 
the tablets of fame, the Warrior Guards went forth to 
battle for the Confederacy. How bravely and how nobly 
the valorous band acquitted itself will never be forgotten 
so long as truthful histories of the Civil War are read. It 
is interesting to know, too, that the first Alabamian wounded 
in that strife was a member of the Tuscaloosa company — 
Private E. W. Tarrant, shot in the leg while on picket duty. 
In 18dl the company was reorganized with John B. 
Durrett as captain. From that time on the Warrior Guards 
have occupied a position in the foremost ranks of the state 
militia. Henry B. Foster, afterward a colonel in the 
national guard and subsequently senior major of the Second 
Alabama Volunteers, '^served a term^as the company's cap- 



62 Men of the Second Alabama. 

tain. William K. Foster commanded the Warrior Guards 
during the term 1893-94, when successive strikes and riots 
occasioned active service at Birmingham and neighboring 
points. 

William Woodward Brandon followed as the company's 
commander and it is certain that no more popular or effi- 
cient officer has served in that capacity. Under his cap- 
taincy, the company won the prize offered for the best 
drilled militia company in Alabama in the summer of 1895. 

It was during the command of Capt. Louis Walter in the 
early '90's that the Eutaw detachment of the Warrior 
Guards was formed and this auxiliary body has ever since 
been of the most material value to the main organization. 

The Warrior Guards claim tbe honor of being the first 
company in Alabama to leave home for the volunteers' ren- 
dezvous at Mobile. The company left Tuscaloosa on the 
night of April 30, 1898, Capt. W. W. Brandon in command, 
reporting at Mobile with 100 men the following day. May 
18, Captain Brandon was appointed major of the Second 
Alabama's Third Battalion. Up to that time, the Warrior 
Guards were the senior company of the regiment. First 
Lieut. Sterling Foster succeeded to the captaincy. Second 
Lieutenant Leviue becoming first lieutenant and Sergt. 
Charles A. Wyman becoming second lieutenant. 

The people of Tuscaloosa, proud of the company and its 
achievements, tendered a brilliant and elaborate "peace 
jubilee" in honor of the volunteers' return home. The 
function took place October G, 1898, and was attended by a 
majority of the company's war membership, the entire regi- 
ment being on thirty days' furlough at the time. 



Southern Martyrs. 



63 



COMPANY D. 

Montgomery True Blues. 



C. F. Anderson, Captain. 
V. M. Elmore, Jr., 1st Lieut. C. A, Allen, Jr., 2d Lieut. 

Serg-eants: 
T. J. Powell, First Sergeant. W. L. Shepherd, Q'master Sgt. 



R. F. Trimble, 
E. F. Baber, Jr., 



Al. A. Reynolds, 
L. J. Chambless. 



Corporals : 

F. C. Sagendorf, B. B. Cobb, 

Will P. Lay, I. Abraham, 

W. E. Lum, Al. Hayhurst. 

R. F. Walker, W. T. Dunne, Musicians. 



H. Bomm, Artificer 

Alford, William J., 
Blakely, W. A., 
Byrd, A., 
Brown, R., 
Brown, L. C, 
Barnett, J. J., 
Bridges, J. M., 
Baer, L., 
Carr, J. L., 
Carr, E. D., 
Condon, R. W., 
Cooper, Sam, 
Clements, Will, 
Cook,C. L, 
Cook.F. W., 
Crandall, Tom, 
Cogswell, Robert, 
Dison, B. F., 
Donaldson, O.K., 
Dibble, O. C, • 
Dozier, A. M., 
Dorough, L. M , 
Dullaghan, CD., 
Devore, Frank, 



H. McTarley, Wagoner. 
Privates ; 

English, John, 
Elmer, Mason, 
Fairey, E. L., 
Faber, C. D., 
Ferguson, E. D., 
Glunt, 0., 
Gullett, J. E., 
Gallaspy,W. G., 
Goodman, J., 
Hurley, R. P , 
Henderson, J. D., 
Hawkins, W. W., 
Hubert, Thomas, 
Hopkins, J. M. C. 
Jackson, E. E., 
Jackson, A. B., 
Lum, H. M , 
Laster, R., 
Lapsley, J. P., 
Lapsley, E. W.. 
Loftis, B. D., 
Murray, J. H., 
Murray, W. T., 
Maydweli, F. H., 



64 



Men of the Second Alabama. 



Meadows, J. J , 
Morri'*, L. A . 
Murtishaw, W. H., 
Melton, W., 
Meehan, M. J., 
Mott, J., 

Mollett, Edward V., Jr. 
IMcArdle, James A., 
IMcDuffie. E. C, 
INIcWhorter, T. 11. B.. 
]\IcManus, F. S., 
IMcllae, Alex, 
McCarley, H , 
Nnnn, M. H., 
Pearson, J. A., 
Payne, S. F., 
Powell, J. W., 
llol)son, \\ . C, 
Khodes, R. R., 
Keade, E , 



Ross, Joe, 
Renfroe, N., 
Smith, D. A., 
Smith, F. D., 
Sherman, C, 
Sherwood, J. M., 
Steed, C. D., 
Simpson, Joe, 
Schwab, F. C, 
Somerset, Grant, 
Taylor, J. B., 
Taylor, Lee, 
Tuttle. Harvey C , 
Walker, A. J., 
West, J. T.. 
West, J. K., 
Wood, J. B, 
Watson, Thomas, 
Williamson, N., 
Wilson, H. B. 



Oce of the oklest natioual n;uar(l corapauies iu the coun- 
try was organized under the name of the Montgomery 
True Blues in 1836. The command volunteered to partici- 
pate in the war that was then being waged against the Sem- 
inole Indians in Florida. As an organization, the True 
Blues have since offered their services in three wars — to 
the United States against Mexico ; to the Confederate 
States against the Unionists; and to the United States 
against Spain. 

Some time before the Spanish-American war, Captain 
Goetter resigned command of the company which was thus 
left in the charge of these officers : First Lieutenant 
Charles F. Anderson, Second Lieutenant Vincent M. El- 
more and Junior Second Lieutenant Charles A. Allen, Jr., 
the last office being at that time provided for by the state 
law. At a meeting of the company held immediately after 
the president issued his call for volunteers, seventy-five per 
cent, of the member^ agreed to respond in a body. First 




MAJ. ROBERT B. DU MONT, 
CoMMDCi. Second Battalion, Second Kecjiment Ala. Volh 



PHOTO BY UIVINOSTON. MONTGOMERY. 



Southern Martyrs. 65 

Lieutenant Anderson was chosen captain ; V. M. Elmore, 
Jr., first lieutenant ; and C. A. Allen, Jr., second lieutenant. 

On May 2, 1898, the company reported for duty at the 
Mobile rendezvous and was declared one of the best 
equipped commands in camp, as most of the men were 
armed and uniformed, while sixty per cent, of the other vol- 
unteers were without military apparel. The True Blues 
were mustered into the volunteer service on May 20, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Charles A. Allen was afterward ap- 
pointed regimental ordnance officer and he served in that 
capacity until the muster out. 



66 



Men of the Second Alabama. 



COMPANY E. 

Gnlf City Guards. (Mobile, Ala.) 



John D. H.\ga\, (!aptain. 
E.MiLE A. IIiNES, 1st Lieut. Cfiarles W. Moork, 2nd Lieut. 

Sergreants : 



Comer Sims, First Sergeant. 

Walter Smythe, 

Otto E. Toenes, 

S. F. Humphries. Discharged. 



William R. Davol, Q'master Sgt. 
GustaveC. Domes, 
Moses Koenigsberg, 
William F. Fincher (resigned first 
sergeancy.) 

Corporals : 

William V. Jackson, 
Charles H. Lenser, 
Arthur n. Davis, (trans- 
ferred to Signal Corps.) 



ThaddeusT. Boon, 
William B. Kramer, 
Henry T. Nevvbold, 
Webster Brannon, 
Armistead M. Bonham, Joseph L. Lema, Musicians. 
George H. Smith, Artificer. Maurice T. O'Brien, Wagoner 

Charles A. Dumas, Cook. 
Privates : 

Daly, William J., 



Batchelor, George B. , 

Broad, AVilliam A., 

Brown, Owen (4. , 

Barry, Robert, Jr., 

Boiling, Charles A., 

Brix, Maynard L., 

Balurdo, Joseph P., 

Baggett, Jesse, 

Brannon, Robert L., 

Blair, Alexander C. (transferred 

to Signal (^orps). 
Cummings, Walter, 
Campbell, William J., 
Cullum, George J., 
Cottrlll, James E., 
Chastang Edward, 
Crowell, John A., 
Connally, William F., 
Chilton, Francis E., 
Camp, William H., 



Dumas, Paul, 
Dumas, John W., 
DeVol, Harry O., 
Dixon, Charles E., 
Dixon, Augustus, 
Dixon, Samuel E., 
DeSilvey, Edward, 
Day, Frank P. , 
Downing, Lee, 
Delmarter, Edward, 
Esmonde, Charles E., 
Feeney, James, 
Ford, Clinton J., 
Farnsworth, Frank, 
Foster, Edward, Jr., 
Fredrickson, Edward A 
Green. Marion, 
Gorman, Michael, 
Galvin, Michael, 



Southern Martyrs. 



67 



Dead. 



M. 



Head, John, 
Huband, John A . , 
Harris, Benjamin B., 
Hinson, Wallace S., 
Heineman, Alfred, 
Herrin, Columbus M. 
Hood, Walter M., 
Johnson, Charles E., 
Johnson, George S., 
Jackson, Christopher 
Joynt, Frank. Dishonorably 

discharged. 
Koch, Albert, 
Lequire, John H. , 
Miller, Edward N., 
McGinn, Walter C, 
McWhorter, Robert H , 
Mitchell, Edward E., 
Minion, John W., 
Muller, Hugo, 
Moore, Archie T , 
Murphy James F., 
Nichols, Nathan J., 
Newman, Earl, 
Pettus, Jesse A., 



Pear, Frank, 
Pierce, Robert J . , 
Parsons, Joseph, 
Reese, Alfred H., 
Rodgers, Henry S. , 
Ryan, William A., Jr., 
Richardson, Harry, 
Stewart, Charles M., 
Spann, Joseph H., 
Shugrue, James, 
Shugrue, Frank, 
Stevens, Curtis E., 
Severson, Charles E., 
Silva, Antony J., 
Tucker, Clarence M., 
Turner, George P., 
Townsend, Joseph A., 
Terrill, Clifford L., 
Wagner, Thomas, 
Williams, Lawrence H. 
Wallace, David W., 
Wentworth, Harry W., 
Wilson, William B., 
Wells, Henry T,, 
Walker, George. 



" The fighting company of the Second Alabama " — such 
was the reputation given the Gulf City Guards (Company 
E). Commanded by a captain whose reputation for per- 
sonal courage had already gained exploitation in the national 
guard, the "Gulfs " were indeed a formidable set of men, 
drawn, as they were, from robust representatives of all 
walks of life. Scholar and clerk, artisan and business man 
met on a common footing in the company street with the 
unanimous desire to "whip Spain." That Captain Hagan's 
command contributed a generous quota to the guardhouse 
contingent or that discolored optics were worn by its mem- 
bers as badges of honor reflected in no way unfavorably on 
the company. No other command in the regiment drilled 



68 Men of the Second Alabama. 

more satisfactorily at importaut juuctures or manifested a 
better esprit de corps. 

Once at Miami, a member of Company E was arrested 
for fighting in the quarters of the First Alabama. When 
Captain Hagan was notified of the arrest, he asked : "Did 
he whip his man ? " " Yes ; sir, " was the answer. "Then 
tell the officer of the guard to release liim at once, " the 
captain ordered — " If he had got whipped I would have 
preferred charges against him. " 

The Gulf City Guards were organized, November 23, 
1860, and in the following Januar}' were on duty at Fort 
Morgan. Afterward, when Alabama seceded from the 
Union, the Guards tendered their services to the Confed- 
eracy and, on being immediately accepted, were assigned to 
the Third Alabama which afterward distinguished itself as 
one of the crack regiments in the Confederate service. 

Immediately after the Civil War, the company was reorgan- 
ized and participated reguhirl}- in all the civic and military 
exercises of a general character that transpired in Mobile. 
The following gentlemen have at various times served as 
captain of the company : O. J. Semmes, G. C. Tucker, 
C. L. Huger, G. H. Smith, LeVert Clark and E. M. Uuder- 
hill. Captain John D. Hagan's original commission dates 
May 1, 1894. 

The Gulf City Guards were the first Mobile company to 
report for duty at Camp Clark, pitching their tents thereon 
the evening of May 5. The company was mustered in, 
May 21. 



Southern Martyrs. 



69 



COMPANY M. 

Mobile Cadets (Eegimental Color Company.) 



William L. Pitts, Jr., Captain. 

John H. Partridge, 1st Lieut. Howard Gaillard, 2d Lieut. 

Sergeants : 

George H. Jones, First Sergeant. Thos. E. Clarke, Q'master Sergt. 
Henry A. Oliver, Andrew J. Thompson, 

Warren S. Horton, William F. Jones. 

Corporals : 

Origen Sibley, Jr., Guy J. Belt, 

Ralph E. Guin, Edward M. Riley, 

William H. Cunningham, Isaac D. Toomer. 

Edmund P. Coeke, Musician. 
Walter J. Bozeman, Artificer. John C. Johnson, Wagoner. 

Privates : 



Adams, Frank, 
Alexander, Nathan T., 
Arnold. Henry G., 
Bell, William A , 
Belser, Jfohn D., 
Bray, Charles E., 
Broadiiax, Robert R., 
Boggs, Edward M . , Jr . , 
Calhoun, Atticus, 
Crenshaw, John W . , 
Cothran, Edward M., 
Dickens, Smith, 
Dunning, William E., 
Dupertie, Samuel H., 
Ellis, Griffin, 
Eschmann, Walter, 
Friddle, Horace, 
Fowler, James J., 
Flynn, John, 
Gaillard, John T., 
Harrison, Claud D. , 
Howd, Fearl D., 
Hudson, Marion S., 



Irvin, Emmett, 
Isbell, Claude, 
Jensen, Otto, 
Jones, William R., 
Jackson, John W., 
Jones, Pati-ick A., 
Kennedy, Charles F., 
Knight, Arthur A., 
Meek, Walter, 
Mackin, John H., 
McCreary, John A., 
Nilsen, Nils G., 
Newberry, John, 
Nelson, James A., 
Nelson, Henry M. , 
Newsome, .Tames, 
Oakley, William G., 
Oliver, William E., 
Olsen, Anton N.. 
Padgett, Robert L , 
Penny, James E., 
Pollard, George W., 
Pugh, Charles M., 



70 Men of the Second Alabama. 

Sharp, George M., Williams, Henry G., 

Singleton, Tandy W., Williams, Robert L., 

Storm, Jacob, Woolf, Eugene, 

Sullivan, John T., Winslett, Benjamin W., 

Sullivan, William J., Winborne, Wallace. 

Smith, Stanley, 

Troupe, Jerry J., disciiaroed. 

Tuttle, Frank A., 

Tucker, John H., Charles J. Beasley. 

Wilson, George E., 

The war with Mexico prompted the organization of the 
Mobile Cadets (Company M) in 1845. But the command 
was not permitted to fight the Mouteziimaus. It continued, 
however, as a militia company uutil 18GI wheu, under Capt. 
Robert M. Sands, it was accepted by the Confederacy and 
assigned to the Army of Northern Virginia, rendering gal- 
hiut service in what was then the Third Ahibama Regiment. 
Afterward, when peace was restored, the company was re- 
organized and on a number of occasions rendered services 
to the state. 

In 1894, the Cadets aided in quelling the labor disturb- 
ances at Birmingham. Capt. B. C. Rowan was then in 
command. Again, in July, 1897, the company was ordered 
to sleep on its arms in readiness to disperse the mob which, 
it was feared, might attempt to Ij-nch Isaiah Davis, mur- 
derer of Thomas Jones. 

April 27, 1898, Captain Rowan, who had commanded the 
company for three years, called the Cadets together and an- 
nounced the receipt of a telegram from Governor Johnston, 
asking how many members of the command could report for 
duty in the volunteer army at once. A score responded. 
On Ma}' 11, the company marched into camp at Mobile with 
fifty-six men. Captain Rowan enjoyed the reputation of 
being one of the best militia officers in Alabama's service 
and his followers were extremely disappointed when Dr. 
Purviauce announced that he was physically ineligible. 



Southern Martyrs. 71 

Meanwhile, First Lieut. Thomas M. Stevens, actuated by- 
strong personal reasons, felt constrained to resign. 

Then Lieut. W. L. Pitts, Jr., who had been in command 
of the Nelson Battery (artillery) at Selma, took forty men 
to Mobile, May 31, and, turning them over to the Cadets, 
succeeded Rowan as captain, Second Lieutenant John H. 
Partridge being promoted to first lieutenant, vice Stevens. 

One of Company M's sergeants, Thos. Partridge, was 
given a commission in the colored troops and after his re- 
lease from the Cadets, promotions followed. Sergeant 
Howard Gaillard, who reached camp as fourth corporal, 
was named for the company's second lieutenancy. But 
First Sergeant Colden A. Brown also sought this commis- 
sion. His successful opponent was nominated by the com- 
missioned officers and Sergeant Brown, displeased because 
the contest had not been submitted to the arbitrament of 
the enlisted men's votes, doffed his uniform and returned 
to civilian life. This was, of course, before the muster in. 



72 



Men of the Second Alabama. 



COMPANY B. 

Lomax Kifles. (Mobile, Ala.) 



DkWitt Camp, Captain. 
John P. Moffat, 1st. Lieut. Tiios. F. McKay, 2nd. Lieut. 

Sergeants : 

George R. McKinney, 1st. Sergt. Thos. W.Carey, Jr., Q'masterRergt. 
Jas. K. Eagon, William A. McCreary, 

Duke Guice, Walter R. Snead. 



Corporals : 



John D. Burnett, 
Lonzo A. Gaskey, 
Elijah R. McCreary, 



Alvin Van Iderstine, 
EvanderB. P>ans, 
Elmer N. Smith. 
Thomas M. Flowers and Ray Sunderland, Musicians. 
Charles M. Ilogaboom, Artificer. Miles A. Moody, Wagoner. 

Privates : 



Allen, Ben. J., 

Armstrong, Aristo T., Jr., 

Attaway, Mose, 

Amos, Charles A., 

Benthey, Edwin C., 

Broadus, Jolin, 

Browning, John, 

Bronzo, Ricliard L. Deserted. 

Ball, John E., 

Benedict, Henry L., 

Buck, John B., 

Callaway, David R., 

Cawthon, Byron O. Deserted. 

Callins, Samuel E., 

Coker, Walter J.. 

Carr, Walter T., 

Costello, Allan B. Deserted. 

Crowley, John B., 

Davenport, Geo. F., 

Daly, Hugh, 

Evans, William, 

Feagin, Charles T., 

Favors, Monroe, 



Ferguson, Fitzhugh H., 

Fowler, Henry R. , 

Gale, Edward B., 

Gaynor, James T., 

Genner, George F., 

Gideon, Edgar V., 

Goldsmith, Walter B., 

Graff, Henderson, 

Hendon, Edward T.,Jr., 

Henry, Ben. G., 

Hawkins, Charles C, 

Harwell, Frank, 

Hogue, Fred. L. , 

Holley, David M., 

Hertz, Edward D., 

Houck, Wm. J., 

Hyslop, Thomas, 

Hannon, John S., 

Hempel, Paul, 

Hansen, Albert, 

Harrison, Arthur J. Deserted. 

Ikner, Theodore N. Deserted. 

James, Elvin E. Dead. 



Southern Martyrs. 



73 



Johnson, Wiley T., 
Kennedy, James L., 
Klausen, John P., 
McCreary, Frank R., 
Mahon, John J., 
McGehee, William W., 
Mitchell, William H., 
Minott, Henry W., 
McCracken, Charles L., 
McCormick, James E., 
Monohan, James H., 
Murphy, Patrick, 
Murphy, William, 
Melia, John J., 
Marik, Charles J., 
McGowan, John, 
McLean, Christopher, 
Nielson, Samuel, 
Nay, Harry, 
Phelan, Thomas M., 
Preachers, Philmore, 



Jesse R. Latham. 
Walter N. King, 
Raymond R. Denton, 



Robinson, T. Walter, 

Rogers, Samuel L., 

Summersell, Charles J., 

Sammereier, Anthony. Dead. 

Shobe, Clyde 0,, 

Shaw, Edward J., 

Skinner, Edward R., 

Smith, Joe, 

Smith, Lewis C, 

Smith, Irby T., 

Stone, William P., 

Snead, Albert H., 

Sandiford, John, 

Thames, Stephen, 

Tucker, Frank D., 

Van Vieck, Victor J., 

Vansickle, Amos W., 

Wells, Alonzo E. Dead. 

Willis. Charles E., 

Warren, Augustus W., 

Werthner, Henry A. 

Discharged. 

Thos. P. Aldridge, 
William J. Barnes. 



It was iu June, 1883, that the Lomax Rifles hiunched od 
their national guard career. Tvvo years later the company 
captured the first prize at an inter-state competitive drill 
iu Washington, D. C. From that time on the Lomax Rifles 
continued to maintain its militia prestige in such a success- 
ful manner that it was known to national guardsmen 
throughout the country for the excellence of its drills. 
Frank P. Davis was the first captain, resigning his com- 
pany command to become colonel of the regiment. In 1885, 
however, he relinquished the colonelcy to take the com- 
pany to the competitive drill at the national capital. After 
that he again resigned. Captain DeWitt Camp, who mus- 
tered the company into the volunteer service, June 14, 1898, 
had commanded the Rifles for seven years. 



74 Men of the Second Alabama. 

Once, on that eventful July eveuinfTj iu 1897 — since re- 
ferred to by Mobilians as the "night of horrors" — the 
Lomax Rifles were ordered under arms to preserve peace. 
A 13'nching bee was expected but the company was not re- 
quired to fire a shot. 

When the Hispano-American embroglio was neariug its 
crisis, the Lomax Rifles became greatly exercised, but under 
counsel of Captain Camp, nothing was done until instruc- 
tions arrived from Governor Johnston. Then, May 8, 1898, 
a meeting was held in the armory hall and a decision 
reached to volunteer as a company. The command marched 
to the regimental rendezvous, May 11, i898. Fifty per cent, 
of the old members of the company who ofteretl their ser- 
vices were rejected by the examining surgeons. Recruits 
were obtained from the Conecuh Guards, of Evergreen, 
whence also came Lieutenant J. C. Snead. He failed to 
pass the surgical examination, however, and Thomas F. 
McKay was chosen iu his place. Tlie latter had previousl}'' 
served as the company's second lieutenant but relinquished 
that office and offered himself as a sergeant in order to 
make room for Snead, who was to have received his com- 
mission in recompense for the Evergreen recruits. 

From August 26 to September (j, 1898, the Lomax Rifles 
served on the provost guard at Pablo Beach, Fla., being 
detached from the regiment for that purpose. The com- 
pany distinguished itself during this service by its rigid 
attention to duty. And Private John B. Buck earned a 
hero's reputation during the stay at Pablo Beach by mak- 
ing courageous and hazardous eff'orts to rescue Private 
Reddy, of Company L, Second New Jersey, from a grave iu 
the surf. Reddy drowned but Buck received for his heroic 
efforts a special commendation by Maj. R. B. Harrison, 
Provost Marshal of the Seventh Army Corps. 



SOUTHEKN MaRTYES. 



75 



COMPANY C. 

Mobile -Rille Company. 



Edward M. RoBiNteOx, Captain. 
John S. Callaghan, ist Lieut. Daniel McNeill, 2d Lieut. 

Sergeauts : 
Walter E. Urquhart, First Sergt. James E. Tlood, Q'master i^ergt. 
Alberts. Williams, Robert E. Austill ( Reduced), 

Sherwood Bonner (Promoted William M . McCreary, 
Battalion Adjutant), Louis R. Benz, 

William J. Primm. 

Corporals : 

Charles K. 0. Hogaboom, Frank O'Rourk, 

William H. Reynolds, V/illiam H . hlambrook, 

Conway Penny, William Briot. 

Frederick C. Klem, Musician. 

Samuel P. Gilbert, Artificer. William L. Pate, Wagoner. 

Privates : 



Atchison, John C, 
Ayers, Albert M ., 
Barnett, William J., 
Burke, William, 
Britton, Bruce C, 
Berry, Carter, 
Beeler, William W , 
Buiityn, Harry T. , 
Baxter, William G., 
Barbarin, George J., 
Boley, William, 
Carter, John, 
Cox, Harmon W., 
Case, John H., 
Cunningham, Walter S., 
Donovan, Michael, 
Deckhard, Thomas B . , 
Espalla, Robert F.. 
Ebert, Fritz, 
Faulk, Thomas T , 
Flournoy, George J., 
Francis, James G., 
Qilberg, EricE., 



Gi'ove, John F., 
Grassel, Ernest E., 
Godwin, Walter W., 
Gillespie, Stowell W., 
Goos, Fred M., 
Hubbard, Joseph F., 
Harper, William M., 
Hall, Andrew L., 
Hogaboom, George E., 
Hamilton, Willis H., 
Hanna, Frank, 
Hellen, Fulford, 
Holder, Karl, 
Hon, Samuel L. , 
Hughs, George B.,J 
Knautf, William S., 
Keefe, John, 
Keefe, Emanuel, 
Knoke, William H., 
Love, Henry E. , 
Levinson, Henry, 
Lamare, Vincent, 
Miles, Hudson, 



76 Men of the Second Alabama. 

Moore, Peter, Simmons, Anthony W., 

McNab, Henry, Steele. Thomas C . Discharged. 

McHugh, Charles A., Stowers, Lewis H., 

Mclnnis, Randall L., Sanders, Jodie T., 

Mclnnis, Murdock C, Spaulding, Harvey L., 

Mclnnis, L. B.. Hchuler, Charles, 

McVey, Walter. Discharged. Taylor, Jerome E., 

Nocton, James, Tate, Charles C, 

Norris, William J., Turner, William H , 

Oliver, Samuel W., Urmey, J. H., 

Otis, George W . , West, Wilie F., 

Pelliser, John, Williams, Edward C, 

Ferryman, Erastus S., Jr., Walker, Charles C, 

Padgett, William A., Wright, George H., 

Parshall, George B , Williams, William C. Trans- 

Rencher, Eugene, ferred to Hospital Corps. 

Schooley, Ed F., Williamson, Sydney P., 

Stanford, Ed S., Younger, George. 

A right venerable record entitles the Mobile Kifle Compa- 
ny to attentive consideration at the hands of history readers. 
Organized in 1836 by Captain James Crawford for service 
against the then hostile Seminole Indians, the company has 
since shared the fortunes of Alabama with unremitting 
loyalty. The Spanish-American was the fourth war the 
company saw as an organization, having passed through, 
with varying losses, the Seminole War, the Mexican War 
and the Civil War. 

Of course, the command has experienced several reorgan- 
izations, but meanwhile its captaincy has been held at vari- 
ous times by men whose names are indelibly written in the 
history of the state. When the war came with Spain, Cap- 
tain Edward M. Robinson was Recorder of Mobile. But 
he decided that he could best serve the country in the field 
and, resigning his civic position, assumed active command 
of the company. Like the other Mobile militia organiza- 
tions, the Mobile Rifle Compan}^ was not ready to report at 
Camp Clark until Colonel Higdon had received a majority 
of the troops from Northern Alabama. But nevertheless 



Southern Martyrs. 77 

the Rifle Compaiiy presented a handsome spectacle as it 
marched thronf];h the streets of Mobile to Colonel Higdon's 
headquarters on May 6, 1898, and reported for duty. 

Both of the company's lieutenants were constrained by 
powerful personal reasons to resign. First Lieut. John L. 
Monlton quit his office only with the greatest reluctance. 
His position was to have been filled by Lieut. W. A. Cross- 
land of Montgomery who agreed to furnish the company 
with forty recruits. But the arrangement was never con- 
summated. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Moulton served until 
his place could be filled. Sergeants A. S. Williams, John 
S. Callaghan and Dan McNeill were candidates to succeed 
Second Lieutenant Hiram Griffin, but McNeill retired in 
favor of Callaghan who was elected. Then, when the ar- 
rangement with Lieutenant Crossland failed of consumma- 
tion and Lieutenant Moulton resigned, Lieutenant Callaghan 
was elevated another notch and Sergeant Dan McNeill be- 
came Second Lieutenant. 

Captain Robinson and the Mobile Rifle Company figured 
conspicuously in the history-making of the Second Alabama, 
but both the commander and the command acquitted them- 
selves with a dignity and creditability at least gratifying. 
Captain Robinson, as a lawyer, knew the value of an analyt- 
ical stud}'^ of army regulations and in this way he gained a 
relative advantage over not a few other company command- 
ers. The Mobile Rifle Company's affairs were administered 
in accordance with both the spirit and the letter of the law 
and the members, readily adjusting themselves to the idea 
of impartial justice, learned to appreciate discipline. 



78 Men of the Second Alabama. 

COMPANY H. 

Troy Rifles. 



Graph J IIubbaki), Captain. 

Warken E. An:)RE\vs, 1st Lieut. Marion Galloway, 2d Lieut. 

Serjeants: 

Josiah Wilson, First Sei-geant. Charles D. Murphee, <i'nuister Sgt. 
Benjamin W. Parker, Jacob K. McNeil, 

Ralph E. Andrews, Adolphus C Brannen. 

Coporals : 

Hugh J. Segars, George W. Newman, 

Benjamin C Condon. 

Samuel II. I'arks, Albert N Crawford, Musicians. 
Ernest L Haiizey. Artificer 

Privates: 

Adams, Daniel .^L, Enzor, Oscar M., 

Armstrong, Hunter H., Fortner, William F., 

Arwood, iMidolpher W , Frost, Murphy S., 

Baker, Albert M., (Jibson, Oscar E., 

Boatright, Robert T., (iomez, Augustine, 

Bronson, Robert P., Ooodman, {jillis A., 

Blan, Gideon P., Gunfer, Joseph, 

Bower, Orman, (irillin, Dinkins S , 

Cargile, John ¥., Henderson, Augustus, 

Carlisle, Walter E., Henderson, John, 

Carter, Elias J., Hill, Joseph C , 

Chapman, Edmund A., HoIIis, John O , 

Connerly, Joanna C, Harris, Robert C, 

Craddock. William !'> , Horton, William J. , 

Collier, Howard, Jni;kson, William (i., 

Cox, Jesse C, Jacobs. Pobert M., 

Courtoy, Frederick L., Jeter, Frazer L , 

Cameron, ., Jones, Frank R., 

Daniel, Charles O, Kelly, James F.. 

DeAVitt, Robert L., Kendrick, James T , 

Darby, Ben, Kirbo, Homer L., 

Davis, Brunie, Lawson, Frederick, 

Davis, Lee, Lee, Charles S., Jr. , 

Devant, David D., Lewis, Henry H., 



Southern Martyrs. 



79 



Lewis, Robert S., 
Liger, Walter H . , 
Malone, Walter J., 
Moody, Bishop M., 
Moody, Harry L., 
Morrison, John, 
McLaney, Clayton, 
Norton, Sam., 
Newman, William, 
Parker, James B., 
Pittman, James L., 
Powell, Samuel T., 
Parks, Adam, 
Pinckard, William L., 
Price, R. F., 
Price, J R., 
Reardon, Alger P., 
Rosenberg, Philip R., 
Reppard, Robert E., 
Rhodes, Charles A., 
Slaughter, James A., 
Stephens, Alton P. , 
Stewart, George F., 
Stewart, Robert I^., 
Strickland, John H., 
Solomon, John L., 
Spivey, William D. , 

It was in 1893 that the Troy Rifles (Company H) were 
orjiauized. E. M. Shackelford served as the command's 
first captain and was succeeded by Graph J. Hubbard. The 
company served at Birmingham in 1894 during the labor 
riots there. 

Some difficulty was experienced in recruiting the volun- 
teers' ranks up to the required company quota and it was 
not until Mslj 27 that the muster in was accomplished at 
Mobile, though Captain Hubbard's followers were among 
the most enthusiastic at the rendezvous, the company having 
reported at Camp Clark for duty May 4. First Lieutenant 
C. H. Cowart who went to Mobile with the company was 
told by the surgical examiners that he was afflicted with an 
ailment which would be aggravated by army service. He 
withdrew, therefore, and Warren E. Andrews, who had 
previous officiated as first lieutenant, was selected in his 
place. 



Townsend, Samuel T., 
Travis, William P. , 
Turner, Ulysses, 
Taylor, Abraham H., 
Watson, James, 
Whitaker, James N., 
Whittemore, Waldo A., 
Wilson, Charles, 
Wilson, John W., 
Wright, Dowling, 
Warren, Robert B , 
Thrower, William W., 
Carlisle, Mulory J., 
Baker, Joseph F., 

DISCHARGED. 

Hough, William T., 
Hollingsworth, Ellison P., 
Espy, James, 
Stevenson, Thomas. 

DESERTED. 



Baker, Joseph F., 
Johnson, John W. 



80 



Men of the Second Aiabama. 



COMPANY I. 

Jackson Coiintv Volunteers. 



ClIARI.KH QlTlNTARD BkKCII, Captllill . 

GiDKON I'jucE Hon, DIN, 1st Lieut. .Tas. Rout. Cam i-hkll, 2d Lieut. 

Serjreaiits : 

Jas. McCord Skeltoii, First Sergt. Felix Robertson, <i'm'ster Sergt. 
William Kdgar Harris, 
WilJiani Kutledge Larkin,Jr , 



Robert Kinkle Harris, 
•loliu Edward Cotten. 



AVilliam D Kelton, 
Rufus S. Porter, 
Charles Rice Caffey. 
John Deere, 
Wiiiiuin Gentle, Artificer 



Ashley, Joseph, 
Askin, William 15 , 
Blessing. William F., 
Bouldin, Virgil, 
Bynum, Charles W., 
Bauer, (ieorge, 
Burkhardt, Robert W , 
Coe, Charles W., 
Cotten, Jerry B., 
Cruse, Richard II., 
Cason, John B., 
Coflfey, James D., 
Cox, Harry, 

Christiansen, George E., 
Coley, Edward J., 
Cummings, Joseph, 
Davis, Oscar H., 
Erwin, Joseph C, 
Fehler, John, 
Green, Walter D., 
Green, Thomas L., 
Gormley, Lawrence, 
Gudenrath, Harry L . , 



Corporals : 

Thomas I Humphrey, Jr. . 
Fred Arn, 

Strauss Edmonds. Musicians. 

Jesse A. Proctor, Wagoner. 
Privates : 

Gullatte, John A., 
Gattis, Emmet, 
Goeber, Isaac, 
Gladden, James W., 
Gaines, John, 
Goodman, William E , 
Gold. Sol mon W. Dead. 
Hall, Walter, 
Hicks, James .M . P. , 
Hankins, James M., 
Hancock, James M , 
Hamilton, William A., 
Humphrey, Clare, 
Hendren, Starling P., 
Hoffman, Ralph L., 
Hauk,Emil, 
Hauk, Alfred, 
Hays, Luther, 
Herrin, Edward. 
Johnson, HerschelV., 
King, William W., 
Lackey. Rice, 
Lusk, George W., 







OAPT. E. H. GRAVES, 
Co. G, Second Regiment Ala. Vols. 



Southern Martyrs. 81 

Lewis, John, Potter, David W., 

Lequire, James C, Ross, James A, 

Matthews, Andrew, Robinson, John R . , 

Matthews, Lee, Selby, Barton B. , 

Morris, James B . , Selby, Walter C . , 

Morris, David A . , Sloan , Tyson M . , 

Meade, Lemuel G., Sisk, Erskine M., 

Moreland, Thomas M., Sherman, Doc, 

MeCormack, Benjamin T., Shannon, John A., 

McCutchen, Harvey B. Dead. Sutterer, Herman, 

McGann, Alfred AV., Threwer, James M., 

Nash, Jackson, Vicars, John H . , 

Owens, Albert, Warren, Thomas L., 

Oden, Harry, Warren, Allie G., 

Parks, Anson B., Walker, James R., 

Pickens, John Z., Wilson, John C, 

Precise, Robert T . , Wallace, Asa F . 
Precise, James A., 

Attired in jeans and homespun, with the untrained gaits 
of the countryman, the Jackson County volunteers (Com- 
pany I) appeared at the Mobile rendezvous as one of the 
most realistically volunteer commands that reported there. 
On April 28, 1898, circulars signed by G. P. Bouldin, L. E. 
Brown and Fred Arn, were sent through the mails to Jack- 
son County's youth and chivalry, calling on them to assem- 
ble at Scottsboro and "go to the front." On April 30, a 
meeting was held at the appointed place and fifty-four vol- 
unteers were enrolled. An adjournment was then taken 
and meanwhile more patriots were called upon. At last, 
on May 2, another meeting was held and thirty additional 
volunteers subscribed. An election of officers was held and 
the company left for Mobile, May 3, with instructions to re- 
port to Colonel Higdon. The company remained in Camp 
Clark for more than a week and was then ordered to move 
to Camp Johnston, where it mustered in under Colonel 
Cox, May 27. • 

L. E. Brown, one of the promoters of the company's or- 



82 Men of the Second Alabama. 

ganization, reported at Mobile as a sergeant, but was re- 
jected because he did uot conform with the required pro- 
portions of height and weight. Afterward, however, he 
succeeded in securing the adjutancy of the Third Battal- 
ion in Colonel Higdon's regiment. 

The Jackson County volunteers' service was tinctured 
with an unusual degree of disagreeableness. As a purely 
volunteer company it at first lacked that harmony which 
comes from continued organization. Earnest work on the 
part of the officers, however, overcame this ditficulty. Still, 
in the Mobile Register of ]\[ay 17, is found this para- 
graph: "A special to the Birmingham Aije-HeraJd from 
Scottsboro says : 'Considerable consternation, in fact, in- 
dignation, in some quarters has arisen here over the reports 
that efforts are being made by parties interested to hold a 
re-election and defeat Capt. C. Q. Beech, of the Jackson 
Volunteers, now in Mobile. Tlie scheme is generally un- 
derstood here, and the consensus of opinion is if the plan 
is carried out, the company- will likely go to pieces.' As 
stated in The Register of Sunday, the election for captain 
of the Jackson County company was held at regimental 
headquarters late Saturday evening. The election was 
supervised by Lieutenant-Colonel AV. A. Thurston and 
there did not appear to be any excitement among the men. 
The opponent of Captain Beech was Lieutenant Bouldin. 
There were eighty-four votes cast. Captain Beech receiving 
sixtv-eight and Lieutenant Bouldin sixteen. Lieutenant 
Colonel Thurston then declared Captain Beech the duly 
elected commander of the company." 

But this difficulty was smoothed over. Company I after- 
ward furnished the only instance in the regiment in which 
an enlisted man struck an officer. The culprit, Joseph C. 
Erwin had previously served as a corporal. Lieutenant 
Bouldin caused his reduction and Erwin attributed the in- 



Southern Martyes. 83 

cident to personal feeling. Afterward Lieutenant Bouldin 
took occasion to reprimand him for his non-attendance at 
drill. Erwin spoke of the immunity from personal vio- 
lence that the lieutenant's epaulettes conferred. Harsh 
words passed and the lieutenant told Erwin he "need not 
bother about the straps." Blows were struck, but before 
serious damage could be done, both men were seized by 
other members of the company. Captain Beech ordered 
Erwin under arrest, but Lieutenant Bouldin declined to 
prosecute him. This incident occurred shortly before the 
regiment's removal from Jacksonville, and when Montgom- 
ery was reached, Erwin was permitted, like the remainder 
of the regiment, to enjoy the thirty days' furlough granted, 
it being understood that the case would be dropped. 

Company I shows a larger death roll than any other 
company in the regiment. Despite its infelicities, however, 
the company was, as a body, conscientious and energetic in 
its service. 



84 



Men of the Second Alabama. 



COMPANY 0. 

Enfaula Killes. 



G. P. Barr, Captain (Resigned). 

E. H. Graves, Captain. 

Edgar S. Mitcheil, 1st Lieut. Ai.ikn M Krown, 2d Lieut. 

Serfiroants. 

W. T. Sheelum, First Sergeant, A. C. Flewellen, (^'master Sergt. 

L. de Lion Harvey, l^eonnrd E. Adams, 

W. M. Petrey, I5ryant Garrett. 

Corporals. 

Lee Colien, 
Claud Douglass, 
J. ^L Jones, 
L Rurkhead and E. FL Dtike, Musicians. 
R. E. Spann, Wagoner. 
J. L. Johnston, Artificer. 
Privates. 



Carl Schlich, 
U . a Weedon, 
Jmo Van Ilouteti, 
L. 



Alston, R. A. Dead. 
Banks, Jim, 
Barnes, L. R., 
Brazwell, L 11., 
Brazwell, \V. J., 
Brown, 0., 
Brown, J. P., 
Brown, A. F., 
Brown, J. B., 
Baldwin, J. T., 
Crawford, J. M., 
Crawford, J. T., 
Canterberry, B. F., 
Caldwell, C. G., 
Cumbie, A . E., 
Cameron, D. W., 
Crutchfield, W. G., 
Dickenson, H. P., 
Dickey, C, 
Daniel, H., 



Gray,F. M., 
Gray, Gus, 
Grice. S. P , 
Gooisby.J. W.. 
Harris, J., 
Harrison, J. M. . 
Hardman, Jack., 
Hooten, J. R , 
Hansen, Christian, 
Hawkins, O., 
Jenkins, T. J., 
Kafenhend, Geo. , 
Kennedy, G. W., 
Kennedy, Edward, 
Kaiglers, O. G. , 
Kirkland, R. C, 
King.C. C, 
King, D. D , 
Kirkland, W. T., 
Lane, N. M., 



Southern Marttes. 



85 



Seeets, W. T., 
Sheets, M. C, 
Searcey, J. E., 
Sayers, J. P., 
Stephens, R. K., 
Smith, W. C, 
Taylor, C. L. 
Thornton, J. L. , 
Thomas, E. J., 
Thomas, T. C, 
Vaughan, N. W., 
Vinson, P. W., 
Wilson, W. L,, 
Wolberg, Rob . , 
Whitley, F., 
Winslett, J. W., 
Williams, J. J., 
Waterman, L. A., 
Yawn, B , 
Yawn, G., 



McDonald, J. D., 

McKay, W. 

McTyre, T. F., 

Mashburn, T. M., 

Mendall,F. M., 

Miller, F. C, 

Nowland,A. B. Deserted. 

Odem, J. A. 

Pippen, Geo., 

Penfield, J. W., 

Pruett, R. D., 

Perkins, C. T., 

Pierce, 0. , 

Parker, J. P., 

Reaborn, C. E., 

Riley, W. L., 

Rollins, W. E. Dead. 

Richardson, W. J., 

Roberts, B., 

Seals, M. B., 

Seals, Pope, 

The Eufaula Rifles were mustered into the state service, 
September 7, 1897, with seventy-five men, G. P. Barr taking 
the captain's oath. When Governor Johnston issued his 
call for Alabama volunteers, in April, 1898, the company 
held a meeting in its armory hall and decided to offer its 
services as a body. The Eufaula Kiflos reached the rendez- 
vous at Mobile, May 3 6, 1898, and were mustered in May 31. 

Business matters made it imperative for Captain Barr to 
devote his attention to private interests and when it became 
apparent that his command would not be required for fight- 
ing purposes, he tendered his resignation, September 1, 
1898. First Sergeant W. T. Sheehan, Quartermaster Ser- 
geant Arthur C. Flewellen and Allen M. Brown contested 
for the second lieutenancy. First Lieut. E. H. Graves and 
Second Lieut. E. S. Mitchell being elevated each one notch 
by Capt. Barr's resignation. Flewellen received a majority 
of the company's votes but Brown secured the ap- 
pointment, though his commission did not reach him until 
the regiment had encamped at Montgomery. 



86 



Men of the Second Alabama. 



COMPANY K. 
"Vaiden's Rongh Walkers." 



William J. Vaidkn, Captain. 
Edgar Hayes, 1st. Lieut. L. S. Munford, 2nd. Lieut. 

Sergeants: 

Oscar Hayes, First Sergeant. Goodman G. Griffin, Q'master Sergt. 
J. Lawrence Finlayson, David S. Fellows, 

George K. Keady, Seay de Graffenried. 

Corporals : 

William F. Temple, 
James H . Prather, 
Job H. Cunniiit^ham . 
Aiden W. Cooper, Musician. 
Norris \. Tucker, Artilicer. Isaac Gurgaimis, Wagoner. 

Edward P. Harris, Company Clerk. 

I'ri vales : 



Stiles M. Ulmer, 
Charles W. Jackson, 
Alfred J. Kennedy, 



Amerson, John D., 
Aston, James F. , 
Barton, Jack, 
Bethea, Triston B., 
Blount, Charles E., 
Braswell, BoliverS., 
Burke, James T. , 
Carlton, Walter L. , 
Carter, William L. , 
Carter, William W., 
Clark, Thomas J., 
Clark, John K. H., 
Conner, William, 
Cronier, Edward, 
Dabney, Itobert, 
Dennan. Thomas, 
Entreken, Garfield, 
Ethridge, Joseph E.. 
Ethridge, Thomas W. 
Evans, Caleb R . , Jr . , 
Faulk, Sidney J. , 



Fellows, John J . . Jr., 
Fitzsimmons, William, 
Fleming, William T., 
Gabler, Jacob B., 
Ganzmiller, George J. 
Gaylor, John, 
George, Charles J., 
Grimes, James A ., 
Grund, Fred. , 
Grubbs, Thomas J , 
Guthrie, J. Fred., 
Guthrie, Thomas, 
Hard, Jean W., 
Hunt, Eldon W., 
Huskey, Leonidas L., 
Jackson, John F., 
Johnson, Henry, 
Johnson, Richard H., 
Johnson, W. E., 
Jones, Edward W., 
Jones, Luther L., 



Southern Martyrs. 



87 



Lee, Robert H., 
Levy, SoUie, 
Lindsay, Robert C, 
Lowry, John W., 
Langston, Charles, 
Mathews, Vaughn, 
Martin, John T., 
McCart, George 0., 
McFerrin, Levi, 
McDowell, James, 
VIcKinney, Allison D., 
Meeks.John M., 
Moreland, Robert L., 
Morris, Vincent, 
Murfee, John M., 
O'Rear, Sim, 
Pinion, Fred., 
Pledger, Charles, 
Presley, William L., 
Prather, Zeb V., 
Ray, Sanders W., 
Reed, Sidney, 
Redmond, Harry, 



Ritchie, John E., 
Romine, George M,, 
Ryan, William H. H., 
Shooter, Max G., 
Sims, Luther C, 
Smith, Bascom. 
Smith, Charles E., 
Smith, Charles F., 
Smith, Thomas I., 
Sparks, William A., 
Spinks, Windsor A., 
Stanley, John N., 
Stewart, Robert R., 
Steinbiihel, Joseph, 
Strange, James, 
Terrell, Joseph J., 
Thornton, Oscar L., 
Tice, James R., 
Tipton, Robert. Dead. 
Upchurch, Oscar T., 
Ward, William W., 
Williams, John A., 
Wilson, James. 



"Vaiden's Rough Walkers" won their nick-name while 
serving on the provost guard at Jacksonville. The com- 
pany reached Mobile, May, 24, 18U8, as a volunteer organiza- 
tion, having been raised by the officers at Uniontown and 
Jasper and the surrounding country. The captain had pre- 
viously served in the national guard as a major and his 
militia reputation aided him materially in raising the com- 
pany which was mustered in the service, June 7, 1898. 

Throughout its career in the volunteer army. Company 
K furnished much interest for the entire regiment by rea- 
son of its peculiar personnel. The rank and file was com- 
posed largely of hardy Alabamians who were much less in- 
clined to shirk work than their more indolent comrades 
from the larger towns. At Miami, the company's quarters, 
at first the least promising in the regiment, were converted 
into a miniature boulevard, stone-ballasted and embellished 



88 Men of the Second Alabama. 

in such a fashion that men tramped through suffocating 
heat and dust to view them. 

One of the company's boasts at the muster out was that it 
was the only company in the regiment which could boast of 
an unchanged roster of officers and "non-coms." No one 
in the company was reduced. The harmony aud comrade- 
ship which prevailed, as well as the constant industry and 
energy of the men, were attributed to the j)eculiar inliueuce 
exercised over his command by Oaptaiu Vaideu, who 
seemed eminently fitted to lead just such a body of hardy, 
hearty men. 

None of Company K's men was court-martialed. Captain 
Vaiden was disinclined to prefer charges against his fol- 
lowers. If any of his men showed a sulleuuess or unwill- 
ingness to discharge his duties he was speedily brought to 
his senses bj- firm treatment. Or, if he proved intractable 
aud consequently an undesirable soldier, no obstacle was 
placed in the way of his desertion. Thus the first sergeant 
once reported to Captain A^aiden : "I expect a desertion 
to-morrow, sir." "Very well, sir; report to your quarters," 
was the answer; aud when the first sergeant's suspicious 
were confirmed, the deserter's name was scratched from the 
company's roll without ado. In this fashion the company 
came to show a larger list of desertions than any other 
command in the regiment — at least a half dozen men aban- 
doning their "Rough-Walking" comrades — but the com- 
pany's efficiency was in nowise impaired by these losses. 



REGIMENTAL BAND 

OF THE 

SECOND ALABAMA. 

Charles Coe, Chief Musician. L. Ottoe Stuber, Drum Major. 

Morgan C. Story, John S. Edmonds, 

Miles P. Nelson, Wade H. Orr, 

Mott 8. Pond, Sam H. Parks, 

Tobe R. Folmer, Clarence W. Black, 

George E. Wienard, W. J.ee Mathews, 

George Walker, Richard R. Pace, 

J Thomas Summersgill, Tup Rushing, 

John P. Stewart, J. Edward Searcey. 

Arthur Stewart, Emile B. Hauk, 

John Burns, Alfred Hauk, 
E. Cocke, ■ Frank Forman. 

As au organization, the Second Alabama's band was most 
successful. At Jacksonville it was voted oue of the best 
concert bands in the Seventh Army Corps. Organized 
June 14, it was beset by many difficulties before it finally 
surmounted the innumerable discouragements incident to 
the absence for a time of suitable instruments and sheet 
music. From a lot of boys who "blowed by ear" — only 
four men were able to read notes at the begining — the 
band was developed in three months into a good military 
organization, rendering standard compositions such as 
"Robin Hood," grand selection from "The Oolah," 
"Santiago," all of Sousa's marches and a repertoire of 
more than 100 pieces. 

This remarkable result was due chiefly to the large ex- 
perience and constant energy of the leader, aided by the 
interested co-operation of the regimental adjutant as com- 
mander of the non-commissioned staff and band. 



90 Men of the Second AiABAJtA. 

Only one member of the baud ever reached the guard- 
house and he was only temporarily confined for a trivial 
offense. But the music-makers encountered not a few 
tribulations. Sickness at Miami seriously threatened for 
awhile to suspend the baud's work. At one time five of 
the bandmen were on the sick-list and the remainder were 
in such poor physical condition that they discharged their 
duties only with the greatest difficulty. George Walker, a 
creditable performer on the slido trouibone, was sent to the 
division hospital at Miami and did not recover in time to 
rejoin the band. His place could not l)e filled. 

At Miami the band was forced to walk more than a mile 
to a rehearsing rendezvous, and there the members con- 
sumed more time fightiug mosquitoes than practicing. 
There were occasions, however, when some zest was added 
to these inconveniences. Que night the piccolo artist 
aroused the entire camp with uuearthly 3'ells. Comrades 
found him trying to climb a pine tree. He swore a laud 
crab had seized him by the leg and dragged him out of his 
tent. The crab was captured in partial corroboration of 
the bandman's story. 

When tlie band was mustered out with the regimeut, the 
leader went with several of the members to accept in the 
First North Carolina Volunteer Infantry positions similar 
to those the}' had just left. Their musical instruments, 
twenty-one in number, were turned over to Colonel Cox. 
These instruments had been furnished the regiment through 
the good offices of Mrs. W. D. Goodman and the Clara 
Schumann Club of Mobile. Colonel Cox, with several offi- 
cers in his regiment, shared a trusteeship, the duties of 
which were to watch and ward the band instruments until 
they could be returned to the ladies who had procured 
them for the regimental musicians' use. 



SOUTHERN MARTYRS. 



CHAPTEE I. 



ASSEMBLING AT THE STATE RENDEZVOUS. 




'O the women of Alabama is due much of the blame for 
the state's tardiuessiu raising its quota of volunteers. 
"This is not a war with which we can sympathize," 
said a prominent woman of Mobile in May, 1898. "We cannot 
sanction the shedding of good American blood for the ele- 
vation of negroes who are incapable of self-government. 
We, of the South, haveueverbeenable to honestly accept the 
darkey as a political or economic equal; and we must leave 
to the North this thing of freeing Spain's West Indian 
'niggers.' " 

It was the spirit of the Bourbon that prompted these 
words — the unreconstructed Bourbon whose wounds had 
not yet entirely healed ; and it affected the urban chivalry. 
It tinctured with indifference the war preparations in Ala- 
bama during the May days. It wound the restraining arms 
of wives, mothers, sweethearts and sisters around the necks 
of militant patriots. It cast discredit on the sacrednees of 
the war. 

This, together, with the fact that the state's national 
guard was partly an organization but wholly a travesty de- 
ferred the day on which Governor Johnston was enabled to 
notify the authorities at Washington that "Alabama was 
ready." Still, in the northern part of the state eager of- 



92 Assembling at the State Kendezvous. 

ficers had been at work from the inception of the interna- 
tional difficulty. Several weeks before, there had been a 
reorganization of the state militia and Maj. Elijah L. Hig- 
don became colonel of the Third Regiment, A. N. G., com- 
posed as follows : Company A, at Woodlawn ; B, Flor- 
ence ; C, Gadsden ; D, Auniston ; E, Anniston ; F, Hunts- 
ville ; G, Birmingham ; H, Bessemer; I, Oxford; K, Bir- 
mingham ; L, East Lake ; M, Vernon, Lamar county. 

Colonel Higdon communicated with his company 
commanders and even before the governor was noti- 
fied of the quota of soldiers required from the state, of- 
ficers of the Third Regiment, A. N. G., met in Birmingham 
and agreed to offer themselves and their com mauds for ser- 
vice. Cols. James W. Cox and Henry B. Foster, of the 
First and Second Regiments, A. N. G., respectively, being 
thus forestalled by Colonel Higdou, were forced to unite 
their commands for the formation of one regiment. At that 
time their two regiments were made up as follows : 

First — Company A, at Mobile ; B, Mobile ; C, Geneva ; D, 
Fort Deposit; E, Mobile; F, Mobile ; G,Eufaula ; H, Troy; 
I, Greenville ; K, Evergreen ; L, Pollard; M, Monroeville. 

Second — Company A, at Montgomery; B, Talladega ; C, 
Selma ; D, Montgomery ; E, Uniontown ; F, Tuscaloosa ; 
G, Union Springs ; H, Alexauder City ; I, Demopolis ; K, 
Selma; L, Phoenix City; M, Marion. 

The governor's call for two regiments of white infautry 
and an additional battalion of colored men went forth on 
April 28. Already, anticipative measures had been adopted 
by the various militia officers. Their men were sounded 
and in those companies in which majorities agreed to vol- 
unteer, energetic efforts were made to recruit the member- 
ship up to the requisite number — eighty. Colonel Hig- 
don's regiment was ordered to report at once at the state 
rendezvous which meanwhile had been designated as Mo- 
bile. Then, as the other companies were accepted, they 
also received instructions to assemble at the Gulf City. 



Southern Martyrs. 93 

Ten of Colonel Higdon's twelve companies finally reached 
the rendezvous, one of the Auniston commands and the 
Vernon troop failing to offer the necessary number of men. 
The Joe Johnston Rifles of Decatur and the Clark Rifles of 
Pratt City and Talladega ultimately replaced these two 
companies. 

Governor Johnston had arranged to appoint as lieuten- 
ant-colonel of each volunteer regiment a regular army officer. 
First Lieut. J. B. McDonald, of the Tenth Cavalry, U. S. 
A., stationed for several years at the military college at 
Auburn, was at once designated as lieutenant-colonel of the 

First Alabama. 

***** **.*** 

It was a beautiful Sunday — the first day of May — that 
witnessed the departure of the first contingent of Colonel 
Higdon's regiment from Birmingham for the state rendez- 
vous. The Magic City's thoroughfares were thronged with 
eager, excited thousands who gathered to bid the volunteers 
farewell. It was a touching spectacle that bright Sabbath 
morning — the streets jammed with gaily dressed, tearful 
women, solemn-faced men and chattering children uncon- 
scious of the occasion's seriousness. There were gray- 
haired dames and grizzled sires to whom the day was tragic 
in its reminiscences of that other time when loved kinsmen 
went forth to find unmarked graves on bloody battlefields. 

Feeling was tense. The hour itself was pregnant with 
historic doings. Dewey was at that moment clearing his 
squadron for the glorious day at Manila. The country 
was on the qui vive and the whole world was at attention at 
the hour when those first Alabama volunteers marched 
from the armories of Birmingham to the town depot. There 
were dramatic farewells and pathetic partings. At that 
moment, none knew what was to follow. War's tragedy 
prevailed. 

In that seething theater of pathos aud emotion, sentiment 
and sorrow, were enacted hundreds of incidents in each of 



94 Assembling at the State Rendezvous. 

whicli was written a history. No more picturesque illustra- 
tion could be ^iven of that day's episodes than the leave- 
taking of Sergeant Luman S. Handley of the Jefferson Vol- 
unteers. His father, pastor of the Central Presbyterian 
Church of Birmingham, sought for his son's sake to repress 
the grief that filled him. As a Confederate veteran, he en- 
deavored to set his sergeant son a soldierly example. 
Calmly and without demonstration, he bade farewell after 
the young man had taken his place in line. "Be a man — 
a Christian; be a soldier; good-bye, my son," he said 
calmly. Then he turned away. Tlie company marched 
past. Before the minister reached the gate of his home, 
however, the pent-up emotions burst forth and the tried 
father gave way to tears. He could preach no sermon that 
morning ; and while the sympathetic congregation followed 
the substitute pastor's prayers for the departing soldiers, 
their hearts were with the woe-laden father in the parson- 
age near by. 

It was such an earnestness of feeling that crowded the 
railroad depots from Birmingham to Mobile with great 
throngs anxious to bid the volunteers Godspeed. It was 
this same sentiment that collected an immense concourse in 
Mobile and prompted it to shout itself hoarse cheering the 
citizen soldiery. 

The eight companies of the Third Regiment, A. N. G., 
which reached Mobile Sunday night, May 1, were accom- 
panied by the Warrior Guards of Tuscaloosa (Company F, 
Second Regiment, A. N. G.) whose captain, W. W. Brandon, 
had striven like a Trojan to be the first in camp. And his 
was the first command of what afterward became the Second 
Regiment Alabama Volunteers to reach the state rendezvous. 
The eight companies reporting with him were: the Besse- 
mer Rifles, Jefferson Volunteers, Birmingham Rifles, Huey 
Guards, Anniston Rifles, Etowah Rifles, Oxford Rifles and 
the Woodlawu Light Infantry. Twenty-three volunteers 



Southern Martyrs. 95 

from Talladega, afterward becoming members of the Clark 
Rifles, accompanied this contingent. 

The Joe Johnston Rifles, of Decatur, afterward Com- 
pany E of the First Alabama, reached camp also on the 
evening of May 1. It had not been a part of any national 
guard regiment and was purely a volunteer company. 
* * * -jf * * * 

On the day previous, April 30, three carloads of tents and 
camp equipage had arrived in Mobile from Montgomery. 
Quartermaster General Barry L. Holt of the state national 
guard, accompanied by Lieut. S. G. Jones, of the Fourth 
Cavalry, who had been on duty with the militia for four 
years, worked industriously to prepare the camp for the 
volunteers' reception. Lieut. Magnus O. Hollis, of the 
regular army — since elevated to a captaincy — had been de- 
tailed by the "War Department to muster in the Alabama 
volunteers and from the beginning he placed himself in 
constant touch with the state's national guard executives. 
With Quartermaster General Holt and Lieutenant Jones he 
inspected the ofiered camp sites, Alba's pasture at Frascati 
on the bay, near Monroe park, be*ing selected. Through 
the energy of these ofiicers, the arriving volunteers found 
their quarters practically ready for occupation when they 
reached Mobile. 

On the next day, the Montgomery True Blues and the 
Montgomery Greys reached camp, pitching their tents in 
the late afternoon. The Montgomery boys were given an 
ovation by the volunteers who preceded them to the ren- 
dezvous ; and from that time on each batch ot arriving re- 
cruits was accorded a rousing welcome. 

Colonel Higdon endeavored to at once organize into 
battalions the companies ordered to report to him. Under 
his early plans, Lieutenant Colonel McDonald was given 
command of the first battalion. The second battalion was 
to be under Maj. Tom O. Smith; and the third was given to 



96 Assembling at the State Rendezvous. 

Major McLeod. Of course, this arrangement was after- 
ward altered. But Colonel Higdon and liis subalterns were 
eager to perfect the organization of their own command in 
order to settle beyond any question the retention of their 
promised commissions and to that end they hastened the 
muster work. In those days it was customary to coddle 
and cajole the recruit. On his willingness to enlist de- 
pended the readiness with which the regiments would be 
mustered in. Hay was procured for the men's bedding and 
the following routine of calls adopted : 

Reveille 6:00a.m. 

Police call 6:10 a, m. 

Breakfast call 6:30 a. m. 

Sick call 7 :00 a . m . 

Drill— First call 7 :25 a. m . 

Drill— Assembly 7 :30 a. m. 

Recall from drill 8:-10a. m. 

Guard mount— First call 8 :55 a . m . 

Guard mount— Assembly 9:00 a. m. 

Ollicers' call immediately after guard m.iuiit. 

Fatigue call 9:45a. m. 

First Sergeants' call 11:45a. m. 

Recall from fatigue 12:(X) m. 

Dinner call 12:15 p. m. 

Fatigue call 1:30 p.m. 

Recall from fatigue ' 4 :00 p. m. 

Drill call 4:30 p.m. 

Recall from drill 5:45 p. m. 

Sick call 6:00p.m. 

Retreat 6 :30 p m . 

Supper call immediately after retreat. 

Tattoo 9 :30 p. m . 

Taps 10:00 p.m. 

-s**** ^ * * * * 

The first encampment of Alabama's volunteers was named 
in honor of the state militia's brigadier general, Louis V. 
Clark. The latter and Colonel Higdon exchanged a number 
of amenities on this score, the regimental orders designa- 
ting the camp's title and the brigadier general's letter of 







CAI'T. W. J. VAIDEN, 
Co. K, Skuo.n'd Kkgiment Ala. Vols. 



Southern Martyrs. 97 

thanks for the honor done bim being published in the news- 
papers to the gratification of all concerned. Up to that 
time, L. C. Brown had acted as Colonel Higdon's adjutant, 
but. May 3, Lieut. E. D. Johnston, son of Alabama's gov- 
ernor, was regularly appointed to the regimental adjutancy. 

May 3 witnessed the arrival at Camp Louis V. Clark of 
the Huntsville Rifles, the Wheeler Bifles and the Jackson 
County volunteers. On the following day the Troy Bifles 
arrived. From that time on, the various commands report- 
ing for service reached the rendezvous as soon as they had 
recruited to the requisite quota. Some officers, however, 
unable to raise the number of men required for a company, 
sought to "take chances" with their followings and prom- 
ised to complete their companies in time to muster in. In 
this way Capt. R. C. McFarland, of Florence, reported to 
Colonel Higdon with a body of men whom he called the 
Lauderdale County Volunteers. They afterward became 
members of the Clark Rifles (Company M, First Alabama). 
May 5, the governor directed the disbandmeut of the "Lau- 
derdale County Volunteers" and the Lauderdale men effected 
a consolidation with the recruits from Pratt City and Tal- 
ladega, Romaine Boyd becoming captain and McFarland 
being altogether ignored. The company thus formed (M) 
was the last required to complete Colonel Higdon's com- 
mand. 

The examining board of surgeons entered upon its duties 
without delay. The board, as appointed by Governor John- 
ston, was composed of Dr. W. E. Purviance, a captain in 
the regular army, stationed during the Spanish-American 
war at Fort McPherson, Ga. ; Dr. W. A. Burns, of Sheffield, 
Ala., and Dr. W. E. Quinn, of Fort Payne, Ala. The first 
company offered to the board for physical examination was 
the Jefferson Volunteers. Dr. Purviance, at the head of the 
examiners, manifested at the outstart his disposition to 
exact of eaeh yolunteer a faultless physique. 



98 Assembling at the State EENDEzvors. 

Meanwhile, before Camp Louis Y. Clark had been fairly- 
established, two disquietiug incidents transpired. Sergt. 
Hugh Collins of the Birmingliani Rilles was shot and killed 
by a negro, Lewis Iveese, May '6 ; and the next da}- Private 
M. W. Eckford, of the Montgomery Greys, was declared to 
be afflicted with small-pox. The tragic fate of Sergeant 
C(jllin8 was accepted by many as an ill-omen while the 
dread disease with which Private Eckford was pronounced 
a sufferer tended to discourage recruits fioin euteriiig tlie 
camp. 

]3ut l)oth alTairs were developed into sources of rcgiiiKMi- 
tal benefit throngh tlie enhanced morale their conclusions 
contributed. The manner in which the volunteers were le- 
strained from mobbing Sergeant Collins' slayer crystallized 
the men's early sense of discipline wliiU' tlin consciousness 
that a comrade had been taken from among them cemented 
the sentimental tics tliat bound the recruits together. 

Besides, the reportiMl sniall-|)ox case was made the means 
of showing how danger of epidemic illness should be 
treated. The Montgomery Greys' effects were fumigated, 
the company sent out of quarters for a day, their bedding 
burned, the tents moved and the patient himself isolated in 
an improvised pest house. After all this was done it de- 
veloped that Eckford's affliction was merely varioloid. 

The Gulf Cit}' Guards marched into Camp Louis V. 
Clark, May o, and the next day they were followed by the 
Mobile Rille Company and the Phoenix City Rities. May 6 
also marked the decision by the governor of the colonelcy 
of the Second Alabama Volunteers, James Wade Cox being 
selected for the office. Walter A. Thurston, a lieutenant in 
the Sixteenth Infantry, U. S. A., was selected for lieu- 
tenant colonel ; Henry B. Foster, colonel of the Second 
Regiment, A. N. G., for senior major; and Robert B. Du 
Mont, lieutenant colonel of the First Regiment, A. N. G., 
was made major, next in rank. S. S. Pugh was at the same 



Southern Martyrs. 99 

time appointed surgeon major and G. C, Scott, his assist- 
ant, with the rank of first lieutenant. 

The following day, May 7, Colonel Higdon notified 
Colonel Cox that he was ready to turn over to him eight 
companies as the nucleus for the Second Alabama Volun- 
teer Infantry. Colonel Cox at once repaired to Alba's 
pasture to superintend the laying out of his regimental 
quarters. Lieutenant Colonel Thurston joined him with- 
out delay. On May 8, Colonel Cox assumed command of 
these eight companies : Warrior Guards, Troy Rifles, 
Montgomery Greys, Montgomery True Blues, Phoenix City 
Rifles, Mobile Rifle Company, Gulf City Guards and the 
Jackson County Volunteers. All these companies had re- 
ported for duty to Colonel Higdon, but having belonged — 
with the exception of the Jackson County Volunteers — to 
the First and Second Regiments, A. N. G., were reserved, 
in accordance with Governor Johnston's plans, for the Sec- 
ond Alabama Volunteer Infantry. 

Colonel Cox's first order, dated May 8, directed that re- 
veille be sounded at 5 a. m. — he required that the men 
arise an hour earlier than before. The same order named 
the camp in honor of the state executive, Joseph F. John- 
ston. The Second Alabama's quarters adjoined those of 
the First, a shallow trench dividing the two regiments. The 
eight companies taken in charge by Colonel Cox were not 
forced to move their quarters under the new order of affairs, 
their company streets having been so laid out that no en- 
croachment was made on the First Regiment's reservation. 



CHAPTER II. 



SOURCES OF IN'COMPHTENCE. 



^Ipf^F the 1,800 members of the Alabama National Gnard, 
M # less thau 1,200 voluuteerod ; and not more than half 
'^^^if^^^-'of them succeeded iu ]iassii)<^ the ])hysical examina- 
tion. It became necessary, therefore, to recruit the regi- 
ments from amonp; men who had no conception of the tech- 
nique of military service. These volunteers were willing 
patriots, however, and applied themselves to the drill work 
with an industry and atteutiveness that in many instances 
rendered them superior as soldiers to men who had served 
years iu the militia. But these "raw recruits," thou<^h com- 
posius; sixty-seven per cent, of the regiment, or outnumber- 
ing the national guard volunteers two to one, were given no 
voice, except in a few instances, iu the selection of the 
oflficers. Ou the other hand, the militia captains and lieu- 
tenants were commissioned by the governor as the "elected 
officers of their companies." In many cases, these ap- 
pointes were chosen mouths before, not because of fitness 
for military leadership, but because they were popular with 
the members of their companies, a majority of whom after- 
ward either declined to volunteer or were ineligible for 
army service. The assertion has been made that the re- 
cruits could have chosen between the company commanders 
already elected and thus enjoyed a broader scope of selec- 
tion than otherwise. But this is not true. A volunteer, 
ouce found, was hastened to camp and held by "right of 
discovery" in the quarters of the company to which his dis- 
coverer belonged. Before.the recruit had an opportunity 



Southern Martyrs. 101 



toj'udf^e whether he would prefer to follow this ofl&cer or 
that one, he was credited to the company commander re- 
sponsible for his entrance into camp and that settled the 
volunteer's fate. 

In those instances where elections were held after the 
rendezvous was reached, matters were conducted in a 
method no more equitable. Political influence instead of 
personal merit decided the issue in most of the elections, 
while in some instances no secret was made of the fact that 
commissions were sold — bartered for the money neces- 
sary to raise a stipulated number of recruits. Companies 
lacked suflicient men to be mustered in and outsiders' offers 
were accepted to fetch the necessary number of volunteers 
to camp on condition that they, themselves, be given offices. 
The injudiciousness and unfairness of this course were ac- 
centuated in several cases by the surgeons' rejection of 
would-be commission-buyers, indicating clearly that offices 
had been promised men without any investigation as to 
their fitness. 

All these things tended to detract from the dignity of vol- 
unteer officers' positions and to impart to the rank and file 
a certain contempt for the shoulder strap. Soldiers learned 
to respect the personality of able officers and to flout the 
authority of inferior ones. The man and not the epaulettes 
won respect. In the volunteer army, officers of the same 
rank were obeyed with varying degrees of promptness. 
Relative merit won for them relative obedience. 

This situation was largely due to the flagrant violation of 
Alabama's military law. Commissions were issued to men 
who technically and legally were not entitled to them. 

Section 2883 of Chapter 76 of the Military Laws of Ala- 
bama under the caption, "All officers to be commissioned 
by the governor; qualifications," prescribes: 

All officers shall be commissioned by the commander-in-chief, and 
no person shall be conamissioned in the Alabama National Guard who 



102 Sources of Incompetence. 

18 not a citizen of this state nor above the age of twenty-one years, 
nor until such officer shall have passed a satisfactori/ rxami nation before 
a military board wliirJi sludl fie ajtpointed bi/ the brifjudier (jeixral, to 
consist of not less than three members, who shall have the power to 
compel the attendance of witnesses, administer oaths and take testi- 
mony as is possessed by general courts martial, and no person shall 
be eligible fur election or appointment to ottiee in tlie .\labama Na- 
tional Guard for a period of sixty days after he shall have been re- 
ported adversely by the examining board. The report of such ex- 
amining board must be forwarded through the proper military chan- 
nels tu the commander-in-chief ; Provided, that nothing in this sec- 
tion shall apply to the staff of the commander-in-chief. 

More thau eif^htv-eight per ceut. of tlie Alabama Nation- 
al Guard ollicers who were serviu;.^ iu the H|)rin<^ of 1898 
held thoir po.sitious iu violation of the state's military laws, 
or, more correctly, were uot le{.;al officers. A larj^e propor- 
tion were furnished with "temporary commissions" issued 
by the adjutant ^eueral of the state — commissious that were 
not commissions at all. (3thers were servin<^ under com- 
missions made out before the enactment of tjje foregoing 
law. ]Jut even they hud fiiiltnl to undorj^o the exarainatiou 
that was also required under the old order of affairs. Less 
than a score of the officers who were installed in the Ala- 
bama Volunteers "on transfer from the national guard" 
had beeu entitled to regular bona tide commissious in the 
militia. The others had failed to undergo the required 
technical examination. Indeed, it was bruited about as an 
opeu secret that an officer who unsuccessfully endeavored 
to pass this examination in June, 1897, was afterward com- 
missioned iu the First Regiment Alabama Volunteers. 

Section 2883 of the Military Laws of Alabama was evi- 
dently tlesigned to insure official competence iu the state 
militia; and j'et its spirit and intent were ignored. 

There should have been small wonder then that men of 
intelligence, gossipping iu the volunteer camps of Alabama, 
opened their eyes in astonishment when told that no pro- 
vision had been made for mental or technical examinations 



Southern Martyrs. 103 

of their leaders. These recruits knew that a number of the 
officers looked forward to service in the volunteer army as 
a source of revenue. Men whose civilian pursuits had 
yielded them less than an average of $80 per month were 
eager to enter into a sort of compact with the government 
assuring them salaries of from $1,4^0 per annum up. Com- 
missions in the army meant to such men a considerably 
greater monthly earning than they had ever made before or 
than they would be likely to make when returned to civil 
life. 

" A man who can't earn $125 a month at home, where 
there are so many more fields of work, certainly should not 
be able to make that much in the army, " philosophically 
reasoned some of the patriot soldiers. And in this logic 
lay the index to the soarces of incompetence in the volunteer 
army. 

An army officer's pay is gauged according to a minimum 
scale of reasonable recompense for the intelligence and abil- 
ity required for the discharge of his duties. Education, 
judgment, mental activity and a knowledge of men and 
affairs are among the chief requisites of an officer. If he lias 
these, then he should surely be able, by applying them in 
professional or commercial directions, to earn as much in 
civil life as in the army. 

But merit and competence figured as little in the ap- 
pointment of the volunteer commanders. Under the instruc- 
tions from Washington, national guardsmen were to be 
given the preference in acceptances for service. No atten- 
tion was paid to the fact that Alabama's National Guard 
was more a farce than a fact. The selection of officers 
was made the vehicle for profit to men who could jDresent 
no more important grounds for preference than that they 
were members of a set which annually cost the taxpayers a 
sum ostensibly devoted to military purposes but really ex- 
pended for useless show. 

Still, this fallacy was part of the mistake that the com- 



104 Sources of Incompetence. 

monwealtli bad indulged for years. It was reflected iu the 
system of " promotion by rank " that obtained iu tlie na- 
tional guard itself. It was all part and parcel of the ab- 
surd error that permitted an intelligent people to confound 
the importance of soldiery with the subterfuges of jjolitics. 
It owed its origin to that condition of pojnilar sentiment 
which opposed military institutions and yet encouraged the 
maintenance of a dangerous though useless substitute. 

Brass buttons and showy uniforms, taken through the set 
movements of close order drills, hud convinced the people 
that the national guard was a powerful military reserve. It 
was not in general cognizance that close order evolutions, 
the spectacular formations on the parade grounds, were 
more picturesque than serviceable. People believed that, 
because Alabama companies had distinguished themselves 
at comj)etitive militia ilrills, the state was well etjuipped to 
furnish a considerable quota of men })racticed and tiuished 
in the science of war. 

The uudeception came with the call for volunteers. Not 
only were the majorit}' of the state's national guard un- 
willing or untit to answer their country's call, but the small 
proportion who did enter the pariot army were little better 
trained for war than the rawest recruits. True, many went 
through the manual of arms with the preciseness and ac- 
curacy of so many marionettes. But they had been taught 
practically nothing of the real practice of war — of pointing, 
aiming and tiring their arms. And they knew even less of 
the duties of a soldier in active service. Extended order — 
the battle formati(^n — was really novel to them. All were 
ignorant of the meaning and purposes of outpost duty. 

And the line officers — infinitely more time was consumed 
by them iu learning the details and logical sequence of the 
various extended order formations than the rank and file 

required to master the mechanical method of execution. 

* -s- * * -x- ■}{• * 

Before either Alabama regiment was fairl}' launched on 



Southern Martyrs. 105 

its volunteer army career a glaring example of subsequent 
incompetence was given. No sooner were the officers satis- 
fied of the security of their commissions than a widespread 
disposition became evident to lounge. Many appeared to 
consider that they were merely drill-masters, forgetful that 
such positions were more properly in the sphere of the non- 
coms. There was but little eagerness to enhance the 
comfort of the enlisted men and less industry in seeking to 
protect their health. Orders were ignored. Men lived in the 
ephemeral conditions of today ; naught was done for the 
morrow. Thus, no safe-guard was thrown around those 
things that imperil the cohesiveness of an inceptive army. 
Such a thing as the promotion or enhancement of morale 
seemed foreign to the line officers. Many appeared to think 
that the scope of their official duties ended with the per- 
functory performance of daily routine. 

Official circulars were treated a good deal like so many 
advertising pamphlets. Thus it was on May 8 in Colonel 
Cox's first regimental order the following paragraph ap- 
peared : 

" i he commanding officer desires to call attention to the very dan- 
gerous trifling with sentinels that has been noticed. .A sentinel is 
the most highly respected officer in the regular army of every nation 
on earth. His power is supreme and even the commanding officer in 
any army obeys his injunctions, when the sentinel does not recognize 
him. We are here preparing for a duty which requires a serainel 
to kill any man who does not obey the orders that he is directed to 
carry out, and hereafter any man found trilling with a sentinel will 
be severely and summarily dealt with. Special orders will be given 
the guard for conduct of sentinels on post." 

The lines were read and dismissed as though there were 
no more significance attaching to the phrases than was con- 
tained on the surface. Few officers discerned that the 
sentences enjoined a change of conditions — a change that 
each wearer of shoulder straps should have aided in bring- 
ing about. Instead, guard duty was imposed on offending 



10(3 Sources of Incompetence. 

volunteers as puuishment. No plau could Lave beeu 
adopted in such a body more prejudicial to good sentinel 
service. The spirit of the comniaiulinf:; officer's order was 
violated. The sentinel was debased, not di<^uitied. The 
recruits, slow to see the seriousness of camp life, were i:n- 
pressed with the idea that guard duty was punitive. The 
guardsmen themselves thus became subjects of levity ; their 
posts were looked upon as prisoners' pens. Men were re- 
luctant to serve as sentinels. Being incliued to disrespect 
guardsmen, they were loath to liecome subject to such dis- 
respect from ethers. 

Moreover, guard duty became an onerous ta>k rather tlian 
an intelligent office. Sentinels were ])erfunct<>rily assigned 
to posts with kah>id(isc()pic ideas of duty, ^\'hen the day 
of muster out arrived there were not itH) men in lh(^ Seciond 
Alabama who could recite the general onlers for a sentinel. 
Such cursory instruction as was giv(Mi in the early service 
was confined largely to the catechism of compliments. 
More time was devoted to teaching the sentinels how to 
salute officers than in instructing them how to halt tres- 
passers and possible foemen. 

The First Alabama was superior to the Second in this 
relation. Indeed, from the beginning it was apparent that 
the two regiments dilFered largely in governing material. 
In the First Alabama there was manifest an initiative spirit 
on the part of a majority of the officers together with a dis- 
position to act in concert. But in the Second there was 
little evidence either of aggressiveness or mutuality. This 
may be attril)uted in a measure to the superior opportuni- 
ties afforded the First Regiment officers in the earl}' camp 
days to arrive at a common understanding. In after months, 
these officers accounted much of the regin)ental efficiency 
as due to tlu' dominant personality of Lieutenant Colonel 
McDonald. The latter joined the regiment with a record 
sufficiently brilliant to command for him the earnest atteu- 



Southern Martyrs. 107 

tion of men and officers alike. As a commander of scouts in 
the West, he rendered distinguished service, being credited 
with much of the more important work that resulted in the 
surrender of the notorious Geronimo. Of course, the re- 
cruits looked up to him with expectant interest and his 
task of accomplishing the work set out for him was thus 
facilitated. 

To precisely what agencies the difference between the 
two regiments can bo justly assigned is not certain ; but 
true it is that there was an important and significant dif- 
ference. Thus it was that in the First Alabama, non- 
commissioned officers found much less difficulty in dis- 
charging the duties of their positions than did the non- 
coms of the Second. Though there has been much specu- 
lation as to the reason for this, it is easily found. In the 
First Regiment the enlisted men were promptly acquainted 
with the authorities and respective ranks of their officers, 
commissioned and non-commissioned. No doubt was left 
in the minds of any in the regiment as to the obedience and 
respect due those in authority. 

Warrants were issued the non-commissioned officers of 
the First Alabama Volunteers before the men left Mobile. 
No warrants were issued the non-commissioned officers of 
the Second Alabama, save in response lo a half dozen re- 
quests, up to the time the men reassembled from their 
thirty days' furlough for muster out. And this omission 
in Colonel Cox's regiment occurred despite the fact that 
army regulations prescribe, in mandatory language, that 
warrants shall be issued non-commissioned officers within 
three months after their appointments. 

In such organizations, where merit or ability alone were 
seldom the purchases to office, a large, printed sheet with 
formal verbiage and imposing seals was as much necessary 
to win obedience for non-commissioned as for commissioned 
officers. And this was the case particularly because in- 
equitable tenure of authority among the volunteers extended 



108 Sources of Incompetence. 

to the stripes as well as the straps. The sprinkling of na- 
tional guardsmen were eager to divide all the honors and 
emoluments among themselves despite the fact tiiat they 
were outnumbered lij those volunteers who had never beeu 
militiamen. And national guard officers, in sympathy with 
national guard enlisted men, fostered this plan. Thus a 
man wlio had served as a noncommissioned officer in the 
national guard was frequently jjromoted "according to 
rank." Earnest volunteers, who had expecteil that promo- 
tions would be made according to relative merit and ability, 
became discouraged and disgusted. "We lose opportuni- 
ties now," some of them said, "because we were not ' tin 
Sf)ldiers ' before." 

But the inefficiency of volunteer officers did not reflect on 
their personal capacitie.s. Even among those who seemed 
least fitted for their positions were men with abundant pos- 
sibilities. Stout hearts and jvilliug hands characterized 
perhaps ninety per cent, of the Alabama liegiments' official 
personnel. But a thoughtless people had failed to provide 
a proper training for their militiamen; and the Sf)rry spec- 
tacle that followed the call to arms was the result of this 
thoughtlessness. Had the Alabama volunteers wiio wore 
straps been properly trained in the militia, they would have 
accomplished immeasurably better results in the national 
service. 



CHAPTER III. 



CAMPS CLARK AND JOHNSTON. 




jHlLE the work of recrnitiug the re^imeuts up to the 
requisite quota was in proj^^reas, a number of iuci- 
^'(^M^^ dents occurred to engage the more buoyant interests 
of the encamped vohmteers. Though the women of the state 
had discouraged kinsmen and friends from offering themselves 
for service, their true mettle asserted itself when the troops 
commenced to assemble. To the cousiderateness and 
charity of the women of Alabama, hundreds of volunteers 
owe weeks of relief from illness and pain. More comfort 
was taken to the volunteer camps in womanly hands and on 
womanly lips than came from both the state of Alabama 
and the federal government. But the women did not stop 
with substantial contributions. They lent moral aid, en- 
couragement and inspiration. The men of the First Ala- 
bama can remember no army experience more felicitous 
than the presentation of their regimental flags — handsome, 
silken banners, hand-painted and embroidered — at Camp 
Clark on May 7, 1898. 

It was an impressive ceremony, celebrated as the parting 
sunlight painted the tawny bosom of the neighboring bay 
with a ruddy glow. The banners were given by the women 
of Birmingham. Miss Louise Chisholm, a beautiful young 
lady of the "Magic City," presented the flag. She spoke 
with the dramatic effect that the moment and the scene 
joined in lending. . The earnestness of her words lent a 
charm to the situation. Briefly, but expressively, she said: 

'^Colonel Higdon and Soldiers of the First Alabama Regi- 



110 Camps Clark and Johnston. 

meiit: I foiiie from the woraon of Alabama, your motliers, 
wives and ynur sisters, to bear a raessapje and to present a 
^ift wliieli sliould inspire you to heroic deeds in the camp 
and ou the battlefield, to protect and defend which should 
be your hif^hest ambition. You, sons of a race destined to 
rule the world, the j^alhintry of whose fathers impressed a 
wondering world, — to you I present your colors, the tlaj^ of 
our country, symbol and sentiment of a united Union, em- 
blem of a constitution made forever sacred by the blood of 
your fathers in the cause of humanity — we present you this 
■flag. 

"The valor of a hundred battlefields will tfll ynu how to 
<^uard it. It was n'>ver raised but for liberty, it must never 
trail in dishonor. Cllorious sons of Alabama, 1 envy you 
your privilege. ^lay the Ctod of 1* ittles ever kft'p you in 
His charge, ami when you come back the women of Alabama 
will greet you." 

Not one there but in w hose memory the scene impressed 
itself with photographic viviilness. Each man and woman 
in that assemblage felt he or she was ])art of a historic pic- 
tur(» which might in a few weeks receive a crimson setting 
of patriot blood. The enthusiasm that ]>revailed was tem- 
pered with a deep under-current of solemnity. As Miss 
Chisholm hantled the flag to Colonel Higdon, the Eleventh 
Infantry, U. S. A. band, loaned for the occasion, struck up 
the "Star Spangled Banner." The depth of feeling that 
moved the gathering was reflected in the spontaneity with 
which the assemblage reverently uncovered as the national 
anthem swelled forth. Colonel Higdon spoke briefly and 
then Chaplain Fitzsimmous responded to the Birmingham 
women. John Kimball, of the Jefferson Volunteers, then 
acting color sergeant, bore the banner into the ranks of a 
battalion picked from the regiment to receive it. "Dixie" 
followed the "Star Spangled Banner." 

Then, another beautiful Birmingham girl. Miss Bertha 
Lewis, presented to the regiment a stand of colors. Step- 



Southern Martyrs. Ill 

ping forward, Miss Lewis addressed Lieutenant Colonel 
McDonald. "More than thirty-five years ago," she said, 
"the devoted women of the South placed in the hands of their 
husbands and brothers the 'Stars and Bars,' under which 
the Confederate soldier earned sad but glorious military 
fame and honor, in a brilliant but hopeless contest against 
the 'Stars and Stripes.' The same heroic devotion which 
animated our fathers in what they believed was a righteous 
cause against 'Old Glory,' prompts their sons of to day to 
shoulder their guns and march forth to uphold the honor 
of that same flag whose starry folds now wave over a united 
people; and as the prayers of our motliers were offered for 
those old soldiers, so do our prayers and blessings go with 
you, the brave soldiers of our state, in this struggle. As a 
slight expression of our love and devotion for you and the 
cause for which you battle, the women of Birmingham pre- 
sent you with this flag, the standard of our beloved state. 
May its bonny folds always wave over a brave and victorious 
army; and when on the dreary march or amid the boom of 
cannon and the hiss of bullets you look upon this standard, 
every stitch of which represents a woman's blessing and 
whose every thread is sanctified with woman's prayers and- 
tears, remember that the love and belief in you of your 
mothers, sisters, wives and sweethearts urge you to a brave 
and honorable discharge of your duty ; and their prayers are 
offered up for your safety and welfare. Take it, and may 
you sustain the honor, as your fathers have done, and as 
your mothers would have you do; and when you return, 
which God grant may be soon, though it may be worn and 
tattered, all Alabama will point to it as the standard of the 
noble First, which never trailed in the dust nor lagged be- 
hind ; and the smiles of Alabama's daughters will greet you 
as their highest hopes now follow you." 

Lieutenant Colonel McDonald answered eloquently, the 
tone and spirit of the women's words finding earnest re- 
sponse in the thoughts he spoke. He, too, was a Southerner; 



112 Camps Clark and Johnston. 

and he was proud to be with an Alabama regiment which, 
he was convinced, would shed their last drop of blood in 
defense of the colors. 

The scenes and circumstances of patriotism that followed 
these speeches and made the night of May 7, 1898, one of 
the most remarkable in Camp Louis Y. Clark's history 
were indelibly impressed on the memories of the Birming- 
ham party which traveled 300 miles to attest their devotion 
to the First Alabama. The party, which reached Mobile 
over the Louisville & Nashville railroad, was composed of 
Mrs. Charles G. Brown, Mrs. F. M. Adler, Mrs. A. O. Lane, 
Mrs. Zack Smith, Mrs. E. L. Higdon, Mrs. T. O. Smith and 
Mrs. H. B. Catchiugs, Miss Louise Chisholm, ^liss Bertha 
Lewis, Miss Eloise Ball, Miss M. Lane, Miss Kathleen 
Hundley, Miss Sadie Hawkins, Miss Ella Hiibbert, Miss 
Tessy Fraleigh, Miss Phelan, Miss Helen Ehrmau, Miss 
Belle Daugais and Messrs. C. G. Browu, F. M. Adler, H. B. 
Catchings aud Capt. J. B. Mersou, of the Birmingham cav- 
alry troop. Misses Belle Dangaix and Helen Ehrmau 
served as maids to Miss Chisholm; aud Misses Kathleen 
Hundley aud Elois« Ball performed a like office for Miss 
Lewis. 

A reception at the regimental headquarters and abundant 
opportunities for the men of the regiment to receive the 
sweet consolation of womanly sympathy converted the camp 
for that eveuiug into a haven of hallowed iospiratioD. Then 
came the morrow of growing misery. 

Of the life that characterized the Alabama Volunteers' 
camps iu those davs, a soldier poet has siuce essayed these 
descriptive lines under the title, "Camp Life in a Nut- 
shell" : 

Ringing ballads, playing cards, 
Eating sidemeat, running guards ; 
Marching, drilling, exercising, 
Lying 'round philosophizing ; 




CAPT. JOHN D. HAGAX, 
Co. E, Secoxd Regiment Ala. Yols, 



SOUTHEEN MaKTYES. 113 

Digging ditches, learning tactics, 

Standing guard until your back aches ; 

Doing laundry, picking trasn up ; 

Cleaning camp and dishing hash up ; 

Cooking pork and taking baths, 

Eating hardtack, cleaning paths; 

Getting yellow as a tanyard, 

Wondering when we'll meet the Spaniard • 

Getting letterg'from our folks, 

Snoozing, "boozing," cracking jokes ; 

Thinking of the folks— if not them, 

Then of svveetliearts— those who've got thein 

Reading papers, reading books, 

Fasting, grumbling, "cussing" cooks ; 

Writing letters, cleaning tents up, 

In our trousers sewing rents up ; 

Stewing, growling, fretting, fussing. 

Kicking, howling, working, "cussing;" 

Drilling like old-time cadets, 

Smoking pipes and cigarettes ; 

Telling stories, making wishes. 

Splitting wood and washing dishes; 

Turning in at sound of "taps," 

Spouting verse and shooting "craps" ; 

Wanting fight with Spain's "conceitos," 

Getting it with big mosquitoes ; 

Taking quinine, sick or well. 

Castor oil and calomel ; 

Running out to see the "dummies," 

Calling one another "rummies" ; 

Getting up at five o'clock. 

Wanting fight and hearing talk ; 

Thinking we are not in clover, 

Wondering when the war '11 be over. 

— FUED W. Raper, 
Private, Co. M, First Alabama Volunteers. 

But this jingle is optimistic. It does not mention the ab- 
sence of adequate food and raiment, the scarcity of shelter 
and the lack of proper medical attention. It says nothing 
of the distresses and inconveniences imposed on the Ala- 
bama Volunteers by the slipshod, hap-hazard methods the 



114 Camps Clark and Johnston. 

governmeut adopted in accepting their services and muster- 
ing them in. The men who lived in Camps Clark and 
Johnston from their establishment to their abandonment 
■will find vast quantities of unintended irou}^ in this extract 
from a circular letter sent out by Colonel Higdon on May 1, 
1898, to company commanders : 

"Each enlisted man will be required to have : One small 
Bible ; two woolen blankets (single) ; two knit undershirts 
(woolen) ; two pairs drawers (knit) ; four pairs socks (light 
woolen) ; two towels ; one housewife, with needles, thread 
and buttons (preferably patent bachelor buttons) ; six ex- 
tra shoe strings ; one pair suspeuders ; hair brush and 
comb ; clothes brush ; tooth brush and tooth powder ; 
razor, brush, strap and small glass ; soap and soap box ; 
pencil, paper and stamps." 

A majority of the men arrived at Mobile with onl}^ the 

clothes they wore. 

***** ****-)(• 

There had been an excess of jubilance during the early 
camp diiys. Those who reached Camps Clark aud John- 
ston before May 10, 1898, seemed to regard their enlist- 
ment as a huge outing on which there would be mingled 
felicit}' and danger, the latter only enhancing the former. 
There was no limit to their exuberance. It was "huge 
sport" for them to parade through the camps in noisy, 
shouting, yelling, screaming, singing crowds whose only 
purpose seemed to be to evince their delight in the most 
boisterous fashion possible. Taps would suspend but not 
subdue these orgies. From one end of camp to the other 
bursts of laughter and raillery echoed from tent to tent 
until approaching dawn brought with it exhaustion. 
Reveille would find the previous night's revelers hoarse and 
tired but retreat witnessed their recuperation and a resump- 
tion of the clamorous programme. Then followed the 
gradual accession of painful soberness — the realization that 
things were not so joyous as had been expected. Con- 



Southern Martyrs. 115 

tinned absence of satisfactory food and adeqnate clothing 
and shelter converted jollity into anxiety. 

^ ***** * 

The food was worse than that afterward furnished dur- 
ing the most trying period of the two Alabama regiments' 
history. When Gen. W. M. Graham testified before the 
War Investigating Committee, October 12, 1898, concerning 
the conditions at Camp Alger, near Washington, D. C, he 
might accurately have made the following language refer 
also to the Alabama volunteers : "While the commissary 
supplies were plentiful, the men were often without the 
prescribed rations, because the regimental officers were not 
sufficiently impressed with the importance of drawing their 
food. This was especially true in the matter of fresh 
meat. In one case an officer of a Kansas regiment had re- 
fused to draw the fresh beef rations until he could have 
a saw with which to cut it up." The general also found 
many of the volunteer officers to be ignorant of the methods 
of preparing the requisitions. 

It is interesting to know that in .September, 1898, at 
Jacksonville, Fla., Capt. F. W. Cole, quartermaster for the 
First Division of the Seventh Army Corps, in response to 
questions, said to the writer : "Such distress as has been 
occasioned in the Alabama regiments by the absence of 
rations or their tardiness in arriving in camp has been due 
to the ignorance or incompetence of volunteer officers who 
have persistently disregarded the set rules for the drawing 
of supplies." 

But the food situation at Camps Clark and Johnston was 
complicated by a multiplicity of untoward circumstances. 
First, it was understood that the government would allow 
only six days' rations for recruits between the time of their 
arrival in camp and their muster in. This, of course, made 
the situation embarrassing not only for the recruits but for 
the regimental officers and the regular army men on de- 
tached quartermaster's duty with the two regiments. The 



116 Camps Clark and Johnston. 

most aj^gravatiug feature was the total iguorance of the 
militiamen coucerniug economizatiou of supplies. lu- 
experienced quartermasters and iucorapeteut cooks reu- 
dered these conditions distressing. 

It is true, however, that many of the volunteers strove 
industriously to improve the arrangements but lack of 
proper training frustrated their eftbrts. For awhile, negro 
cooks were employed but even this experiment was not 
satisfactor3^ The recruits having entered camp, fresh 
from the comforts, conveniences and amplitude of domestic 
life, expected as good sustenance as they would receive in 
barracks. And there was no tenable ground for giving 
them food inferior in quality or quantity. Bat as early 
as May 16, a conservative Mobile paper published this 
paragraph : "There is considerable complaint about the 
fare among the men of the Second Regiment. One com- 
pany claims that it had ncjtliing for su])per last night but 
bread and coffee without sugar." 

Subsequent developments showed that much of the 
responsibility for the inferior fare rested on company 
commanders who not onl}' failed to detail the most com- 
petent cooks available, bat absolutely neglected to observe 
the regulations which require frequent inspections of the 
kitchens and the meals served the enlisted men. Indeed, 
the writer, from personal observation, is prepared to say 
most positively that not more than three company com- 
manders in the Second Alabama obeyed the order requiring 
that they visit and inspect their company kitchens three 
times each day. Thus, as late as August 11, 1S98, com- 
plaints reaching the commanding officer impelled him to 
include this paragraph in a circular : "The old order re- 
lating to visits by company commanders to kitchens three 
times a day is still in force and the commanding officer 
feels that to call your attention to the fact is sufficient." 



Southern Martyes. 117 

But the colonel's hints were seldom effective in the 

Second Alabama. 

* * * * * * ■ ^ 

Dissatisfaction in Camps Clark and Johnston sprang 
from a dozen different sources. In the latter camp, dis- 
cipline was delayed through laxity on the part of command- 
ing officers. Anxious to retain full company strength until 
the muster in was accomplished, they were reluctant to 
punish men for breaches of order — they feared a stringent 
enforcement of regulations would disgust recruits and 
prompt them to desert. In this way earnest volun- 
teers suffered injustice and hardship. Men living in the 
vicinity of the camps were accustomed to spend most of 
their time at home or in the society of friends. "Running 
the guard lines" became the most common indulgence 
among the volunteers. The lack of dignity with which the 
officers themselves treated guard duty only added to the 
inefficiency of the sentinels ; and it was an easy task to slip 
in and out of camp. Thus, when duty rosters were made 
up, men absent without leave escaped work while those 
who remained in camp were chosen for tours from 
which they had already earned relief. Loyalty and 
attentiveness became the title to hardship; disobedience 
won excuse from duty. It is no wonder then that many 
men became chagrined and disgusted at the outstart. Eager 
recruiting agents and officers had assured them that the 
government's issue of equipage was already at the ren- 
dezvous ; that only a few brief formalities separated the 
recruits from the regular allowance of uniform and cloth- 
ing. And men who reached camp found that not only was 
the army clothing weeks distant, but that few blankets and 
less shelter were provided and that the absence of discip- 
line worked injustice on those who attempted to serve 
dutifully. 

Weak officers were disposed to be lenient, oblivious that 
in their leniency lay unfairness. Lack of j)roper instruc- 



118 Camps Clark and Johnston. 

tion, iguorance of men and affairs and inexperience with 
things military found them unconscious of the fact that, in 
the army, equality and justice can be had only by a uni- 
form enforcement of discipline. 

Volunteers became doubtful as to the wisdom of taking 
the oath of service. Men commenced to desert before they 
were mustered in. The followiuji; significant order indi- 
cates the condition of affairs at that time : 

Headquarters First Alabama Voiantekks, 

Cash- Clark, May 14, 1898. 
Orders No. 10.] 

Company coiniiiaiulers who have men in tlieir ranks wlio have 
passed examination and wlio have refused to be mustered will cause 
said men to be oonlined in the guardhouse and rejtort same to the 
regimental c.>mtnaiider. By order of Colonel Hiooon. 

E. D. Johnston, 
First Lieutenant and Adjutant. 



CHAPTER lY. 



RECRUITING THE REGIMENTS. 




fUT there was no lack of magnificent military material. 
It is certain that no state in the Union offered finer 
specimens of manhood for the volunteer army than 
did Alabama. And the examining surgeons weeded out 
those who were in the least defective. An index to the rig- 
idity of the physical examinations was furnished by the 
rejection of men who had been known in their respective 
localities as athletes of more than ordinary merit. Wrest- 
lers and boxers were rejected with as little ceremony as were 
men of puny stature. A man might show great muscular 
power but unless his physique indicated a capacity for sus- 
tained effort, unless his vital organs were unimpaired, he 
was not accepted. Endurance and faultless organisms were 
required. Eugene McElroy, of the Bessemer Rifles, was re- 
jected despite the fact that he had a wide reputation as a 
heavy-weight prize fighter. 

The eagerness of men to serve their country was proved 
by the grief that rejection caused them. It was a common 
scene for a rejected volunteer to lie sobbing bitterly in his 
tent. Unaccepted men walked from the surgeons' head- 
quarters with tear-stained faces distorted by poignant sor- 
row. The affecting adieus told the accepted soldiers by 
those returning home afforded a powerful inspiration for 
the men remaining in camp. The regret of ineligible com- 
rades over their inability to accompany them gave to the 
volunteers an exalted conception of their position and 



120 Recruiting the Regiments. 

steeled them to bear with commendable fortitude the hard- 
ships that came afterward. 

Still, the extremely rigid examinations delayed the mus- 
ter proceedings. There were not enough surgeons to ex- 
pedite the work. Companies were not lined up for physi- 
cal inspection until their rolls showed the required quota. 
The delays thus occasioned lost a number of recruits who 
gave way to the dijjcoutent that came to them in those days 
of suspense. These losses perturbed the officers. Moreover, 
the mustering officer's announcement that the men await- 
ing muster woidd be subsisted onl>' six tla^'S b}- the federal 
authorities, made it appear unwise to send any more 
troops to Mobile until the men ah-eady there couhl be dis- 
posed of. This advice was telegraphed tc; R. F. Ligon, ad- 
jutant general of the state, ou May 3. It defern'd the ar- 
rival in camp of several companies whos«!) strength was 
meanwhile depleted by the loss of men wlio became im- 
patient during the delay. 

An authorized statement was given out for Governor 
Johnston at that time as follows : "It will be seen that 
Alabama is sending in her troops more rapidly than the 
government can receive and care for them. The governor 
informs the secretary of war that he has sent Alabama 
troops to the point designated b}- him ; that he had no re- 
quest that any part of the quota should be delayed and 
that he will expect the government to care for them until 
mustered in. The governor thinks when the president in- 
formed him how many troops he desired assembled at Mo- 
bile, if he did not want them at once, notice should have 
been given him. The governor has no apprehension but 
that the troops will be properly cared for." 

Pressure was brought to bear and, as a consequence, the 
volunteer regimental surgeons were sworn in to aid the reg- 
ular examiners. Arrangement was made, also, for the sub- 
sistence on government rations of those volunteers who 
were forced to remain in camp more than six days before 



Southern Martyrs. 121 

their muster could be accomplished. Some of the volun- 
teers were in Camp Johnston three weeks before their com- 
panies took the oath of service. 

Companies K, L and G of the First Kegiment, were mus- 
tered in, May 9, 1898, at 11 a. m. Company A was to have 
gone through the exercise at the same time but the com- 
mander, Captain Parkes, had not been accepted, and his 
men declined to take the oath unless he were allowed to 
lead them. Companies K, L and G assembled under a 
clump of trees in the north end of Camp Clark. Each man 
had already signed the muster roll. Solemnly, with an 
earnestness that impressed the spectators as prophetic, the 
soldiers uncovered and, with thair right hands aloft, bowed 
their heads in assent to the oath as read by the mustering 
officer, Lieutenant Hollis: "I do solemnly swear that I 
will bear true faith and allegiance to the United States of 
America, and I will serve them honestly and faithfully 
against all their enemies whomsoever ; and that I will obey 
the orders of the President of the United States and the 
orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the 
rules and articles of war." 

Soldiers and spectators cheered alike enthusiastically at 
the close of the ceremony ; and the mustered volunteers re- 
turned proudly to their quarters, exultant over the fact that 
they were the first men in the state to go through the ex- 
ercise. Captain Parkes and his company were mustered 
the next day. On all sides, there was an eagerness to hasten 
through the formalities necessary to make the volunteers 
"full-fledged soldiers." It was set forth to the men that if 
they were mustered in time, they would be paid their first 
wages in the early part of the following month. Moreover, 
it was pointed out that the sooner the oath of service was 
taken, the sooner the men would receive their allowance of 
clothes and equipage. 

In the First Alabama, the examining surgeons and the 



122 Recruiting the Regiments. 

mustering officer prosecuted their work with expedition. 
The physical examiuatious of Colonel Hij^don's regiment, 
wliich commenced May 3, were completed in ten days, the 
surgeons turning tln'ir attention to the Second Alabama on 
May 13. The Warrior Guards were the first company of 
Colonel Cox's command to unilorgo the examiners' scrutiny. 
Of the 103 men who applied for enlistment under Cai)tain 
Brandon, just twenty-three were rejected, the company be- 
ing left with precisely the number of accepted men required 
for muster. 

Meanwhile the muster work in the First Ahii»ania had 
progressed with such rapidity that only three companies 
of Colonel Higdon's command remained to be sworn, the 
Bessemer Rith's having taken tiie oath on May 11 and the 
Etowah Rifles, the Anniston Rifles, the Joe Johustcjn 
llilh's and the Huntsville Rifles on May i3. The Oxford 
Ritles were miisterHd, May 14, and the Wheeler Ritles, May 
17. Then followed an interval of a week in which strenuous 
efforts were made to secure the few recruits remaining nec- 
essary' to accomplish the muster of the Clark or Bowie 
Rifles. Recruiting ofticers were dis})atched to Northern 
Alabama and advertisements were circulated for volunteers. 

But the difficulties which beset the Second Alabama at | 

that period were incalculably more embarrassing. Up to ^ 

May 11, there were only eight companies in Camp Johnston. 
On that da}', In^wever, the Mobile Cadets and the Lomax 
Rifles reported for duty. Five days later, May 13, the Eu- 
faula Rifles arrived. It was not until tiiat da^- that Cap- 
tain Bramlon succeeded in having his company, the Warrior 
Guards, mustered. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the 
captain, a gifted orator, made his men a stirring speech. 
He reminded them that they composed the first company 
in the Second Alabama to be mustered and he hoped they 
would be first in everj'thing else pertaining to the regi- 
mental history. He referred also to the Guards' proud re- 
cord and concluded with an eloquent appeal to the men's 



Southern Martyrs. 123 

patriotism. The scene of enthusiasm that followed only 
tended to intensify the envy of the unmustered soldiers in 
other companies and to aggravate their restlessness. 

Up to that time, four other companies had been examined 
by the surgeons — the Montgomery Greys, the Montgomery 
True Blues, the Phoenix City Rifles and the Troy Rifles. 
But rejections so depleted the strength of the last three 
companies that they were forced to send out recruiting 
officers. The Montgomery Greys, however, passed the sur- 
gical examiners with a sufficient number of accepted volun- 
teers to be mustered on May 18. 

* * * -x- * * * 

The difficulty experienced in obtaining recruits and the 
disposition of volunteers to become disgusted over the 
distressing delay prompted the officers of the Second to re- 
sort to a system of transfers similar to that by which the 
First Alabama had expedited its muster pioceedings. Men 
were discussing their liability to punishment for deserting 
before they took the oath of service. Volunteers, who con- 
cluded that the government was so neglectful it did not de- 
serve patriotic services at that-time, urged a right to leave 
camp and return home. Others who were not yet dis- 
couraged argued that the men, who accepted rations on 
the representation that they intended to enlist and afterward 
refused to do so, were guilty of obtaining goods on false 
pretenses. In the end, however, no one was punished who 
deserted before taking the oath of service. 

At all events it was considered necessary to muster the 
men in order to hold them in camp. Therefore, as soon as 
a company approached its quota of accepted men it was 
loaned a sufficient number of volunteers to pass muster. 
These loaned men messed, tented and drilled with the com- 
pany with which they had entered camp. But their names 
were carried on the muster roll of the borrowing company 
and so long as this condition continued it was necessary for 
them to draw their pay and equipments with the latter 



124 Recruiting the Regiments. 

command. Of course, this plan occasioued cousideral)le 
coufusiou aud au immense amount of clerical work ; l)ut 
there was urgent need for its adoption. 

By means of this transfer method, the Gulf City Guards 
were mustered in May 21, and the Phoenix City Rifles, 
May 23. But for more than a week there had been p;rave 
and perplexing doubt as to the whereabouts of the Second 
Regiment's twelfth com pan}'. The Eufaula Rifles' arrival 
in Camp Johnston on May IG had given the Second its 
eleventh company but Colonel Cox and his oflicers were 
much exercised as to what provision the governor could 
make for tiin command still lacking. Tlie state executive 
had steadfastly refused to accept any company whicih could 
not offer the stipulated quota of eighty men. A captain at 
Vernon and another at Greenville had each offered tift}' men, 
but in vain. The Alexander City Rifles and the national 
guard company at Fort Di'posit were also willing to 8«irve, 
but they could not raise sufHcient ukmi. The volunteers at 
those points were eager to go only if tliey would be pcr- 
Uiilted to retain their respective company organizations. 

While this speculation was rifr, the two regiments rivaled 
each other's industry in the (piost for individual recruits. 
Already there had grown up a friendly spirit of contest be- 
tween the two commands. But on tha search for recruits, 
each volunteer felt he had material beside sentimental ends 
to serve. Every man strove to hasten the muster of his 
own regiment. In this way, circumstances arose bordering 
at once on the stern and the ludricous. A writer for a 
Mobile paper at that time attempted to describe a com- 
mon scene at Frascati as follows : 

"Scene at Camps Clark-Johnston : — Half a dozen travel- 
stained, bewhiskered Alabama farmers witli carpet-bags in 
hand alight from the electric car. Immediately they are 
espied by Colonel Higdon and staft'. At the same time. 
Colonel Cox aud staff, who are watching the car station 
through field glasses, in the haze of evening atmosphere, 



Southern Martyrs. 125 

read upon the carpet-bags the unmistakable sign 'Eecruit.' 
In both camps the long roll is beat, and all of the men arise 
and shout 'Eecruits, recruits !' Emissaries are sent out 
from each camp to greet the new arrivals. The farmers 
look on in bewilderment at the array of white tents and 
gorgeous uniforms. 'You want to go to Camp Clark,' says 
one detachment. 'Oh, no, you are looking for Colonel 
Cox,' exclaims the sergeant who represents Camp Johnston. 
There is a pitched battle in words and pantomime, at the 
end of which the emissaries from both regiments return 
triumphantly to either camp with a 'split delegation,' a 
compromise having been arrived at whereby the recruits 

are divided between Colonels Higdon and Cox." 

******* 

In those days of suspense, a sort of frenzy was communi- 
cated to the waiting volunteers by the trains that passed 
their camps over the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. The 
track extended alongside of the kitchens. The whistle of a 
locomotivp, a glimpse of blue or brown in one of the ap- 
proaching car windows, a shout of "Soldiers !" and in 
another instant both regiments were crowded along the 
track. Happy soldiers, bound for the front, waved their 
hats at the envious volunteers huddled along the road and 
the latter waved Godspeed in turn. Each train with 
soldier passengers added to the impatience of the Ala- 
baraians. Afterward, when a flotilla of transports steamed 
out across the bay to the ocean beyond, bearing a division 
of "regulars" to Tampa, the disappointment of the volun- 
teers who remained behind became exasperating. 

In those days, too, the Alabama regiments' rank and file 
commenced to learn how far they were from a condition 
available for active service. Most of the enlisted men had 
supposed that a few weeks would prepare the recruits for 
the severest tasks of campaigning; and most of the volun- 
teer officers had shared this belief. But the palpably indif- 
ferent results that accrued from more than a month of 



126 Recruiting the Regiments. 

arduous drilliug sbowed the eager patriots bow much they 
were mistaken. Before tlie men left Camps Clark and 
Johnston they realized that they were not yet "fit to fight." 

It was during that period, too, that the organization of 
the First Alabama showed its superior advantages. At a 
meeting of tlie non-commissioned ofiieers of the First on 
May 13, lo98, Maj. Tom O. Smitb instructed the non-coms 
to acquaint themselves at once witb those details of military 
training that would render them efficient on the firing or 
skirmish line. In furtherance of these instructions, Sergt. 
Major Leon Schwarz posted a notice on his bulletin board 
directing the various first sergeants to visit as frequently as 
])ossible tbe eami)s of the regular soldiers in tlie vicinity of 
Mobile. The sergeant major of the First Regiment, liini- 
self, set the example of studying the "regulars" in camp 
and gaining from these studies a comprehensive fund of 
practical military information wjiieh the state had neglected 
to give its militia. Unfortunately for Colonel Cox's regi- 
ment, this lead was not followed by those in authority at 
Camp Johnston. 

The difTerence in results was shown in a short time. In 
the First Regiment a police sergeant was detaib^d to take 
charge of the camp's cleanliness. D. D. McClung, of Com- 
pany M, was appointed to this position. There was thus a 
means of fixing the responsibility for violations of the sani- 
tary rules. In the Second Regiment the police work was 
done by fatigue details under non-commissioned officers 
assigned from day to day. The latter's duties on these de- 
tails were regarded as drudgery and were discharged in a 
careless fashion. The fact that the work was classed as 
"fatigue" seemed to the non-coms of the Second to rob it 
of possibilities of credit. 

Failure to arouse the enlisted men's ambitions was re- 
sponsible for other shortcomings in Colonel Cox's regiment. 
Little or no recognition was given service. William B. 
Kramer, of Company E, and Charles Faber, of Company D, 
were told that they ranked as engineer sergeants and that 



Southern Martyrs. 127 

they should superintend a system of drainage for Camp 
Johnston. Both were competent, but no .emolument at- 
tached to the unconfirmed appointments and both found 
that the work embroiled them in embarrassments because 
no pain was taken to give them warrant of rank or exemp- 
tion from other duty. After a time, they ceased "to act as 
"engineer sergeants." Theirs was one of many instances 
in which it seemed that plans were made and abandoned 
with puerile capriciousness and whimsicality. 

The men were deeply concerned over the character of the 
equipments scheduled for them. Stories of the Spanish 
army's formidability with the Mauser gun rendered the vol- 
unteers eager for the Krag-Jorgensen rifle. They learned 
to entertain a contempt for the old Springfield rifle with 
which the militia had been armed. At the same time that 
they speculated on the ordnance designed for them, they 
continued to subsist largely on contributions of food and 
comforts forwarded from different parts of the state. Bir- 
mingham sent whole carloads of provisions to the First 
Eegiment and the Louisville & Nashville Railroad trans- 
ported these contributions free of charge. 

Tuscaloosa sent the Warrior Guards generous quantities 
of "good things"; Montgomery shipped edibles to the two 
companies bearing her name ; and Eufaula and Troy sent 
to the volunteers from their town a number of donations. 
But all this time the tardiness with which recruits reached 
camp and the inconveniences thrust upon the volunteers 
already there continued. So urgent became the need for 
additional men that various recruiting schemes were devised. 
Captain Robinson of the Mobile Rifles, Second Alabama, 
proposed to the four aspirants for a lieutenancy then vacant 
in the company that the one who secured the largest number 
of recruits should get the office. The proposition was 
accepted but the arrangement was never consummated. 

In those days the two regiments dubbed each other "Hig- 
don's Hoboes" and "Cox's Army." 



CHAPTER V. 



MUSTHRINT, IX. 




\ letter by Capt. G. P. Barr, of Company G, Secoiul 
Alabama, to the Eufaula Dnlhi Thncs, uuiler il'to 
of May 27, f^ives au iiiklin<^' of the situation at that 
time. The following extract shows that even then the dif- 
forence between the "regulars" and volunteers was a])- 
parent ; that the bettor care taken of enlisted men by com- 
petent officers was reflected in the supeiioritv of the regu- 
lar army men's condition over the volunteers' plight : 

"Regarding the fare of the regulars it is, as stated by your 
correspondent, 'all right.' They have not only the substan- 
tial food which we get, but all the season's delicacies, which 
they secure by disposing economically of the rations issued, 
too plentifully, by Uncle Sam and exchanging them for these 
delicacies. One company is not only faring well but has 
something like $1,500 surj)lus in the treasury obtained in 
this manner. I mention this merely as an exam])le of the 
liberal quantity issued each company, and that we, too, will 
in time fare just as well under ])roper management, and we 
are blessed in this particular in having a quartermaster 
that's also all right. { 

"Health in camp is especially good considering the num- 
ber here. T(Hlay I made a trij) to the hospital and found 
only two confined therein, out of about 850 located here. \ 

"The water we get, though somewhat warm, is absolutely 
pure. This, in a large measure, contributes to the health 
of the camp. In this connection, we wish to express appre- 
ciation and 'extend sincere thanks to Miss Belle Oppen- 




1st LIEUT. LEOX SCHWARZ, 
Battalion Adhtant. First Reciment Ala. Vols, 



Southern Martyrs. 129 

heimer and the people of Eufaula who so kiudly furnished 
the 'wherewith' to buy ice. Quite a number are also in- 
debted to Miss Mary Ellen Vaughan for smoking tobacco. 

"As to the supposed coming disbandmeut of this, the 
Second Regiment, the statement is merely a surmise on the 
part of your informant and absolutely unfounded. Only 
150 men are needed to complete the regiment and recruits 
are arriving daily. In case Company G is not filled by vol- 
unteers from Eufaula, her quota will be supplied by other 
companies here. While we much prefer having the com- 
pany composed of men from Eufaula and vicinity, if we 
don't get them there, we will have them from elsewhere." 

Captain Barr's prophecy that the volunteers would, after 
a time, fare as well as the "regulars," was never realized in 
the Alabama regiments. Officers were lacking to exercise 
the required judgment and economy, to teach the enlisted 
men how best to serve their own material interests, to in- 
spect the kitchens and scrutinize the quartermaster's stores, 

in short, "to take care of their men." 

***** ***** 

There were many circumstances during the Alabama 
regiments' encampment in and near Mobile that, overlooked 
at the time, afterward became subjects of thoughtful con- 
sideration. The first religious service conducted for the 
benefit of Alabama volunteers was held, Sunday, May 8, 
in the rear of Colonel Higdon's headquarters. Chaplain 
Fitzsimmous of the First Regiment led in prayer and chose 
for the text of his sermon, a verse from Nehemiah, "They 
had a mind to work." Companies of both regiments were 
marched to the place of devotion and a large gathering of 
citizens attended the divine exercises. 

A week later, the Young Men's Christian Association 

established its army tents in Camps Clark and Johnston. 

Newspapers, magazines, stationery and pens and ink were 

furnished the volunteers. Song services were held at these 

9 



130 Mustering In. 

tents in the evenings; and frequently, soldiers, moved by 
emotion, would feelingly address comrades on the good de- 
rived from purity of mind and deed. Those were affecting 
incidents and did much to uplift and hallow the volunteers' 
lot. 

At the same time, several lying sensationalists contrived 
to circulate a report that women visiting the camps were 
subject to insult. Fully two weeks elapsed before the 
ladies of Mobile became convinced of the shameful mendac- 
ity of these stories and there were some women who never 
did develop sufficient temerity to enjoy the hospitality cf 
the camps. Of course, this condition of affairs was in no 
small way discouraging to the large element of gentlemanly 
fellows to v»diom female society would have been as much a 
source of strength as were the delicacies their friends sent 
them. But there were in Mobile a number of noble women who 
were never deterred from the path tbat their kindly hearts 
selected; and the names of many of them were inscribed in 
golden letters on the grateful memories of hundreds of 
volunteers. 

Probably none of these women accomplished as 
much good among the Alabama soldiers as Mrs. Harvey 
E. Jones. Having two sons in the Second Alabama — mem- 
bers of the Mobile Cadets — she took a deep and loving in- 
terest first in that company and afterward in both regiments, 
supplying food and underclothing out of her own purse to 
distressed and needy recruits. Ice was furnished to the 
Y. M. C. A. tents and fresh milk to the soldiers' hospital. 
As the distress among the recruits from the rural districts 
became evident, a relief much more extensive than one person 
could afford was rendered necessary. At a meeting of the 
Mobile Chapter, Daughters of the Confederacy, on May 13, 
1898, Mrs. Jones proposed that active measures be taken to 
relieve and care for the sons of Confederate veterans en- 
listed in the volunteer regiments. From the fact that many 
of Mrs. Jones' coadjutors were not Daughters of the Con- 



Southern Martyrs. 131 

federacy, it was thought best to organize a separate relief 
association, having, however, the countenance and support 
of every Daughter. With the aid of the Ann T. Hunter 
Auxiliary of the United Confederate Veterans and a num- 
ber of disinterested ladies, this was done, the Ladies' 
Soldiers' Belief Association being formed with Mrs. Jones 
at the head. Intelligent and earnest assistance was ren- 
dered her by Mesdames Thomas, Levy, Eichard Sheridan, 
E. W. Christian, E. B. Vaughan, S. Elder and James K. 
Glennon;Miss Amaute Semmes and a number of others 
whose names, unfortunately, are not furnished the his- 
torian. 

Contributions of money and clothing were received, no 
systematic solicitation being made, and the organized relief 
was extended to all the needful volunteers in and around 
Mobile. Contracts for ice, milk and buttermilk were made ; 
men were clothed and cared for and the sick and convales- 
cent were tenderly looked after. In a number of instances, 
transportation was furnished convalescing soldiers to their 
homes and they were started off with a hearty "God bless 
you" and a box of savory lunch. Sick soldiers were taken 
to the homes of gentle women and nursed back to health 
with motherly tenderness. 

•x- * * * * * * 

The first "dress" parade given by Alabama volunteers 
was that of the First Kegiment on May 10. The Second 
Alabama had a similar drill on -May 15, but at that time 
Colonel Cox's cor>imand consisted of only ten companies. 
The designation of commands by letters and their assign- 
ment to battalions occupied more attention in the Second 
than in the First Eegiment, as all of Colonel Higdon's com- 
panies, save two, retained their national guard characteriza- 
tions. In Colonel Cox's command, ten companies having 
been drafted from two militia regiments and the other two 
being volunteer organizations, there was a conflict of com- 



132 Mustering In. 

pany letters ; and the desigDations wertj iu several cases de- 
cided by tossing coins. 

The companies of the First Alabama were for the second 
time assigned to battalions on May 22, 1898. Their order 
was subsequently changed, but under the arrangement of 
May 22, they were placed as follows : 

First Battalion, Maj. Tom O. Smith — Company A, Wood- 
lawn Light Infantry; Company G, Jefferson Volunteers; 
Com})any K, Birmingham Ititles ; Company L, Huey 
Guards. 

Second Battalion, Maj. D. D. McLeod — Company D, An- 
niston llifles ; Company H, Bessemer Ilifles ; Company I, 
Calhoun llifles ; Company M, Bowie Volunteers. 

Third Battalion, M;ij. O. Kyle— Company B, Wheeler 
Bifles ; Ccjmpany C, Et<nvaii RiHes ; Company E, Joe John- 
ston Rifles ; Company F, Monte Sano Light Guards or 
Huiitsville Rifles. 

It was on May 22, also, that the First Alabama's first reg- 
ular regimental inspection took place. 

At the parade of the Second Regiment on May 15, orders 
were read confirming the appointments of Lieut. J. R. Vid- 
mer as regimental adjutant ; W. E. Mickle as regimental 
quartermaster; and Dr. J. N. McLain as assistant surgeon. 
Afterward, E. Thurston Bonhara, of the Montgomery Greys, 
was selected as sergeant major, a number of non-commis- 
sioned officers having been given an opportunity to show 
their relative fitness for the position. Before Lieutenant 
Vidmer assumed the regimental adjutauc}', Lieut. V. M. El- 
more, of the Montgomery True Blues, discharged the duties 
of that office and showed himself so familiar with affairs 
military that none was surprised when, several months 
later, a major general described him as one of the most 
efficient and brilliantly promising line officers iu the volun- 
teer army. 

The]delay attending the muster of the various companies 



Southern Martyrs. 133 

prompted speculation as to the time from which the volun- 
teers' pay would commence. Word was received from the 
paymaster general on May 20 announcing that enlisted men 
would be paid from the time of their enrolment, or the day 
on which th'ey started for the rendezvous. Of course, this 
applied only to those who were accepted for service. It 
was intended to pay the commissioned officers only from 
their respective dates of muster. This caused deep dissat- 
isfaction in official circles and on May 24, the following res- 
olution was adopted, copies being mailed to senators and 
congressmen and the heads of departments at Washington : 

Whereas, it has been made known that no provision has been made 
for the payment of the commissioned officers of the volunteer service 
in the Uiiited States Army for time spent by such officers in recruit- 
ing and equipping the troops in such service, prior to the time said 
officers are mustered in regularly, notwithstanding their commis- 
sions may antedate the time of their muster by several days or weeks, 
and they have done several weeks' work as such officers ; and where- 
as, it is the concensus of opinion among such officers of the First 
Alabama Volunteer Infantry, U. S. A , that the government ought to 
pay for such service just as if said officers had been regularly mus- 
tered in before the cause was rendered ; therefore, 

Resolved, That each of the senators and representatives from the 
State of Alabama at Washington be requested by each of said com- 
missioned officers to do all he can honorably to have the law so 
amended that such officers may receive pay for such service as if the 
same had been rendered after being mustered in. 

Afterward, the officers of tbe Second Alabama signified 
their approval of this resolution and supported it in per- 
sonal letters. 

*-x-*** ***** 

One of the first boards of inquiry appointed in the vol- 
unteer army exonerated Captain H. B. Kennedy of the First 
Alabama on May 19, 1898, from charges preferred by Private 
Smith Fuller of the Huey Guards. Fuller claimed that 
Captain Kennedy, while serving as officer of the day on 
May 18, struck him with his sword during a raid on a gam- 
ing crowd. 



134 Mustering In. 

The First Alabama was officially rfcoornized bv the TVar 
Departmeut on May 22, a telegraphic order reachiuj,' Colouel 
Hi<;dou on that clay to report to General Coppinger, at the 
Spring Hill camp, nine miles from Frascati. But the regi- 
ment could not report until it had been mustered in. Never- 
theless, it was not to be furnished uniforms or ordnance 
until it reached Spring Hill. 

Finall}', on May 24, the First Alabama was rejoiced by 
the arrival of a l)atch of recruits suflii-icnt in number to en- 
able Company M to muster. On the same day Caj)t. W* 
J. Yaiden solved the problem of Colonel Cox's twelfth cpm- 
j)any by escorting a comiuaml of volunteers into Camp 
Johnston. His company was for awhile erroneously men- 
tioned as tiie Pelhaiii Guards. 

Immediately after tlie last company of the First Alabama 
went through the muster ceremony. Colonel Higdou and his 
staff took the oath of military allegiance. Beside the 
colouel, these were sworn : J. B. McDonald (U, S. A.), lieu- 
tenant colouel ; E. D. Johnston, adjutant, Birmingham ; R. 
M. Fletcher, Jr., quartermaster, Huntsvillo; W. J. Ker- 
nachan, surgeon, Florence ; L. C. Morris, assistant surgeon, 
Birmingham ; Hardee Johnston, assistant surgeon, Birming- 
ham ; O. P. Fitzsimmons, chaj)lain, Birmingham; Leon 
Schwarz, sergeant-major, Birmingham ; Lee Joseph, quar- 
termaster sergeant, Birmingham ; D. W. Gass, hospital 
steward, Birmingham ; K E. Hogan, hc^spital steward, Bir- 
mingham. 

Before that day, however, the national authorities had 
been prevailed upon to accept the Alabama regiments on 
the basis of the state's national guard plans of organiza- 
tion — with three majors instead of two and with three bat- 
talion adjutants as part of the field personnel. Capt. 
Osceola Kyle, of the Joe Johnston Rifles, was appointed 
th3 third major of the First Regiment on May 17, and Capt. 
W. W. Brandon, of the Warrior Guards, was commissioned 
third major of the Second Alabama on May 18. The three 



Southern Martyrs. 135 

battalion adjutants of the First Alabama were appointed 
on May 24. 

***** * * 

The following morning, May 25, Colonel Higdon's regi- 
ment broke camp at 8 o'clock. It was the first time the vol- 
unteers had heard the general call — the signal to lower 
tents — and the entire Second Eegiment gathered just inside 
its lines to witness the abandonment of Camp Clark. Like 
a flash, the white canvas village disappeared. Every tent 
dropped at the call ; and in five minutes Camp Louis V. 
Clark was a thing of the past. 

Colonel Higdon's regiment marched through the quarters 
of the Second Alabama to St. Stephens' road and thence to 
Spring Hill, the men of Colonel Cox's command lining up 
on either side of the regimental street to bid them farewell. 
It was a notable fact that though officers of the Second 
signaled frantically to their men to "give the boys 
of the First a good send-ofi"," little enthusiasm was 
evinced by Colonel Cox's regiment. Colonel Higdon's com- 
mand showed plainly the results of the examining surgeons' 
pruning process— it was a superb body of hardy men, but 
its ragged appearance, the dearth of uniforms, had a 
dampening effect on the ardor of the watching volunteers. 

Still, the men of the First were hopeful that their transfer 
to Spring Hill meant an early move to the front and they 
were enthusiastic. Encumbered with but few equipments, 
the regiment made the march to Spring Hill in easy fashion, 
reaching there at 1:30 o'clock in the aftaruoon. A brief 
thunder shower that descended while the men were en route 
was accepted as grateful refreshment from the heat. 

On the day that the First Alabama abandoned Camp 
Clark, only five companies of the Second Regiment had 
been mustered. Colonel Cox at once redoubled his efforts 
to recruit his regiment to the requisite number. Posters 
were distributed throughout Southern Alabama and addi- 
tional recruiting agents sent out. May 27, the Troy Rifles 



136 



Mustering In. 



and the Jackson County Volunteers were mustered. The 
following day the Mobile Ritie Company was sworn in. 
The Eufaula Rifles took the oath on May 31 and the Mobile 
Cadets were mustered June 2. Five days later, Captain 
Vaiden's company borrowed enough men to pass muster. 
Then came a week of waiting and suspense. Tiie ]jomax 
Rifles remained to be mustered and it was found more diffi- 
cult to secure the seventy men then required to fill out the 
regiment than it had been to get 200 recruits one mouth be- 
fore. But on June 14 the Lomax Rifles passed muster and 
in the afternoon of that da}' the Second Alabama Volunteer 
Infantry assembled on the paraile ground of Camp Joseph 
F. Johnston, underwent a verification of its muster rolls 
and formally became a part of the volunteer aiiny. 



CHAPTEE YL 



AT SPRING HILL. 



^^OMPETENT testimony shows that, on June 14, no 
wfopl regiment in the volunteer army excelled the First or 
^^^ Second Alabama in point of physical perfection. 
Colonel Higdon's men at Spring Hill and Colonel Cox's 
command at Frascati were constantly the subjects of 
admiration. Kegular army men, accustomed to the 
spectacle of robust, hardy troops, were struck with the ex- 
traordinarily rugged appearance of both Alabama regiments. 
It is certain that no finer body of volunteer infantry, of 
equal numerical strength, had ever been collected in the 
western hemisphere — the domain of physical superiority. 

It was natural that this should be the case. Of the 
patriots who offered themselves for service in Alabama, less 
than sixty per cent, were accepted. The examining surgeons 
had remained inflexible in their observance of a high stand- 
ard of physical eligibility. Properly trained, either regi- 
ment — as composed in early June — could have developed 
an endurance surpassed by no command in the American 
forces, volunteer or regular. 

But on May 25, 1898, the second call for citizen soldiers 
was issued ; and it was arranged that Alabama's additional 
quota of white volunteers should be attached to the two 
regiments already formed. The plan provided for an in- 
crease of the regimental strength from 960 to 1,240, each 
company being raised from eighty to 103 enlisted men. 
The officers' commissions had been already confirmed and 
delivered, those of the First being dated April 30 and those 



138 At Spring^Hill. 

of the Second, May 1, tlie former thus r:inkiu<]j the hitter by 
one day's seniority. Their positions assured then, otlicers 
ceased to regard the matter of recruiting with that anxiety 
which it had occasioned them up to the muster. 

Under general corps orders, issued June 6, however, re- 
cruiting officers and agents were appointed for the First 
Ahibama, June 7, to get sufficient men to raise the regiment 
to the increased requirement. These appoiutes were: First 
Battalion— Capt. G. F. Hart, Sergt. E. M. Gihson, Cor- 
poral J. G. Johns and Private's Percy W. Terry and Peter 
H. Hambright ; Second Battalion — Lieut. B. R. Field, 
Sergt. A. N. McLeod, Sergt. G. J. HulFman, Sergt. Joe 
Hodo and Private \V. B. Glover ; Third Battalion — Lieut. 
M. N. Pride, Sergt. J. H. McCoy, Privates J. H. Hannah, 
J. J. Cliallen and W. Ciiristiensen. IliH;rniting stations for 
the First were established at Birmingham, Ainiiston and 
Decatur. 

Afterward, similar ap[)nintinents were made in the Second 
llegimeut, as follows: At Montgomery, Capt. C. A. Ander- 
son, Lieut. J. T. BuUen, Sergt. K. F. Trimble, Corporal 
F. C. Sagendorf, Privates J. R. Williams ami H. C. Rogers; 
at Mobile, Lieuts. C. W. Moore, T. F. McKay and Daniel 
McNeill, Sergts. W. A. McCreary and J. R. Eagon, Corporal 
W. V. Jackson, Privates W. H. Reynolds, G. W. Otis and 
W, B. Kramer ; at Tuscaloosa, Lieut. J. Levine, Privates 
Ed. E. Cox and H. F. Fairless ; at Eufaula, Capt. J. R. 
Barr, Corporal L. Cohen and Private Ed. Sercy ; at Troy, 
Lieut. W. E. Andrews, Corporal George W. Newman and 
Private W. J. Jackson ; at Scottsboro, Lieut. J. R. Campbell, 
Privates Clare Humphrey and A. B. Parks; at Jasper, Lieut. 
Edgar Hayes and Corporals Jackson and Cnnniugham ; 
at Phoenix Cit}', Capt. J. P. Marchaut, Corjioral J. B. Wood 
and Private W. S. Hill ; at Selma, Capt W. L. Pitts, Cor- 
poral Origen Sible}' and Private G. J. Belt. 

Recruits were not eager to enlist and instructions had 
been issued to make less exacting the standard of physical 



Southern Martyrs. 139 

requisites. It was decided to make the minimum weir^ht of 
eligible volunteers 110 pounds and the minimum height five 
feet, two inches. Thus, several men who had been rejected 
in the regular examinations were accepted at the recruiting 

stations. 

****** 

On June 15, Colonel Cox having telegraphed to the War 
Department that his regiment was mustered in, he was ord- 
ered to report to the officer in command at Spring Hill, for 
assignment to duty with the Fourth Army Corps. Three 
days before this order was received, Quartermaster Mickle 
commenced the distribution of ordnance and clothing to the 
Second Regiment. Springfield rifles, of the same pattern 
as those used by the militia, were furnished. Haversacks, 
cartridge belts, plates, cups and knives were also given out, 
but most of the articles were second-hand, liaving been pre- 
viously in use in a regular army regiment. A limited num- 
ber of canteens fell to the lot of the First Battalion. 

On the same day that the regiment was assigned to the 
Fourth Army Corps, Governor Johnston announced his ap- 
pointment of the Second Alabama's battalion adjutants, as 
follows : First Battalion, C. C. Hare, of Auburn ; Second 
Battalion, Sherwood Bonner, a sergeant of Company C ; 
Third Battalion, W. Y. Johnston, First Sergeant of Com- 
pany G. But Lieutenant Hollis, the mustering officer, 
refused to muster the battalion adjutants or the additional 
majors of the Alabama regiments on the ground that 
he had not been authorized to do so. In the First Regi- 
ment these officers at once assumed the duties of their new 
positions as did also Major Brandon, but the battalion ad- 
jutants of the Second Alabama, fearful that their commiss- 
ions might not be confirmed, did not relinquish their serg- 
eancies and continued as enlisted men. 

On June 16, Colonel Cox, in accordance with instructions 
from Washington, reported personally to Brigadier General 
Schwan, in command of the camp at Spring Hill, for 



140 At Spring Hill. 

further orders. The colonel was directed to report with his 
regiment the following day. Additional clothing was 
at once issued the Second Alabama and on the after- 
noon of June 16 the men were for the first time attired in 
heavy marching order so that they might be iuspecttnl and 
instructed as to the regulation method of carrying their 
arms and accouterments. On the same afternoon, tli<\v re- 
ceived their first issue of army shoes. 

Camp Joseph F. Johnston was struck the next morning 
at 7 o'clock. The Mobile Ritles served as color company 
for the day. The regiment marched up the shell road 
skirting Mobile Bay through the rity to Sjjriiig Hill, the 
circuitous route being somewhat longer than that traversed 
by tlie First Alabama three weeks before. Few of the men 
were fitted for the exertion. Tlieir only army training up 
to that time consisted of drills without arms. They were 
unaccustomed to the heavy brogans that chafed their feet 
and weighted them down. The heat was unusually intense. 
But the regiment showed its pluck and made the march 
without complaint. Many staggered and faltered but 
courageous tenacity bore them on. Spring Hill was reached 
in less than four hours. There were several cases of incip- 
ient insolation and a number of the men's feet were lacera- 
ted or swollen by the brogans which, however, in after days 
proved a boon to them. B}- retreat that evening the Sec- 
ond Alabama was regularly installed as part of the Second 
Brigade of the First Division of the Fourth Army Corps at 
Spring Hill in the camp popularl}-, but improperl}' known 

as Coppinger. 

* ^ * * * * 

The drills at Frascati had consumed one hour in the morn- 
ing and one hour in the afternoon. At Spring Hill, the 
morning drill was increased to two hours. The camp was 
laid in an extensive forest of pines so remote from a view of 



Southern Martyrs. 141 

civil habitations that there the Alabama regiments received 
their first accurate impressions of campaign duty. 

Doubt as to what programme was intended for the 
troops lent credence to the innumerable rumors that 
gained currency in camp gossip. Startling stories of im- 
mediate movements were told and retold hundreds of times 
each day. Deep interest was taken by the Alabamians in 
reports that Brig. Gen. W. C. Gates, of their state, would 
be assigned to a brigade ultimately composed of one Texas 
and the two white Alabama regiments. General Gates vis- 
ited Mobile in the middle of June and was greeted with 
considerable enthusiasm by the men of both Colonel Hig- 
dou's and Colonel Cox's commands. 

Before that time, however, the uncertainty of the War 
Department's plans was manifested in a most disagreeable 
fashion. Gu the morning of June 13, 1898, orders were re- 
ceived at Mobile to transfer the volunteer troops in that 
vicinity to Mount Vernon Barracks, thirty miles north on 
the Mobile & Birmingham Railroad. At midnight, these 
orders were conutermanded, an immense amount of work 
having been done in the meantime to hasten the movement. 
No explanation was made, though at the time the projected 
transfer to Mount Vernon was attributed to a desire on the 
part of the Washington authorities to protect the volunteers 

from the danger of fever infection. 

******* 

When the Second Alabama reached Spring Hill, the divis- 
ion encamped there, and of which Brigadier General Theo- 
dore Schwan was in command, was made up as follows : 

First Brigade — First Texas, First Louisiana, First Ala- 
bama. 

Second Brigade — Second Texas, Second Louisiana. 

Gen. Lloyd Wheaton was in command of the First Brigade 
and Gen. W. W. Gordon, of Savannah, Ga., had charge of 
the Second Brigade to which the Second Alabama was 
assigned. 



142 At Speds'g Hill. 

Tlie condition of the troops at Spring Hill at that time is 
in a measure told iu the following clip[)in<j; from the Mobile 
7i'e(//.s/er of Jiiue 11, 181)8: 

"Au officer at the headquarters of the division said 3'es- 
terday : 'The only thing that could ])ossibly lead to au 
impression that the movement of the troops from Mobile is 
contemplated is the fact the War Department is urgiug upon 
the division that the equipment of the men be hurried for- 
ward. And this, too, in the face of the fact that the equip- 
ment supplies are not here yet* 

"This matter of equipment, by the way, is getting to bo 
a very vexing one, and in private conversation the govern- 
ment is roundly scored by volunteer officers on account of 
the dilatory methods employed in issuing clothiucr, rifles 
and accouterments to the men. The supplies furnished 
thus far, they say, have been of a very inferior quality, al- 
though the men would be content if there were sufficient to 
go around. 

"As an illustration of the inferiority of su]tplies a promi- 
nent surgeon said yesterday that notwithstanding a large 
special appropriation was made for the purpose the govern- 
ment had supplied the surgeons with surgical instruments 
that were obsolete fifty years ago. This, he said, was with- 
out exaggeration, and the instruments were evidently cast 
off stock of manufacturers. The writer was also shown 
cartridge belts provided by the government that did not 
look like they cost five cents each. The leather was patched 
and so rotten that it could be punctured with the little 
finger of the hand. The sewing was crudely done with cot- 
ton thread and the cartridge webbing was sewed irrespect- 
ive of any size or shape of the cartridge to be carried. Of 
one dozen of these belts furnislied a company, no two 
buckles were alike. It must be borne iu mind, too, that 
these cartridge belts were brand new and were evidently 
just from the manufacturer. It was said that it had been 



Southern Martyrs. 143 

reported to the qaarterm aster general that they were uufit 
for use." 

Ou June 20, 1898, word was received that the First Divis- 
ion of the Fourth Army Corps had been i:»rdered to Miami, 
Fla. To those who remembered that the place had been 
described by Gen. J. F. Wade as unfit for camp purposes, 
the order came both as a shock and a surprise. But a ma- 
jority of the volunteers looked forward to the movement 
with delight. They knew Miami, Fla., was on the coast, 
quite close to Cuba — it was "near the front" ; and the men 
were overjoyed at the prospect of soon seeing active ser- 
vice. 

The drills assumed a new interest. The volunteers were 
eager to. perfect themselves in the practice of arms; and 
though there were many discouraging circumstances, though 
it became in a measure apparent to the men themselves 
that their lack of training and equipment rendered them 
practically unserviceable against disciplined troops, the 
great, unbounded self-confidence of the American patriot 
made them eager for battle. 

The First Texas Volunteer Infantry received its first pay- 
ment from the government on June 22, and was immediate- 
ly afterward loaded on the trains that bore them to Miami. 
The following day, the First Alabama, the First Louisiana, 
the Second Texas and the Second Louisiana were paid, the 
enlisted men receiving wages from the dates of their enrol- 
ment and the commissioned officers being paid only from 
the time of their muster in. The volunteers had been with- 
out money for nearly two months and their first pay day 
provoked a monstrous saturnalia. A numerous provost 
guard found it im])ossible to maintain order. Dis- 
cipline was forgotten. Hundreds of drunken soldiers ran 
riot in the streets of Mobile, indulging in countless brawls 
and making the air hideous with unbridled ribaldry. Of 
course, there were hundreds of other volunteers who re- 



144 At Spring Hill. 

mained sober aud ortlerl}', but the orgies of the culprits in 
the latter part of June, 1898, afterward tended to restrict 
the liberties of the entire division, particularly the Second 
Brigade. A vacant building at the corner of Commerce and 
Conti streets in Mobile was converted into a temporary 
guardhouse and scores of offenders were thrust into it. 
Mad with liquor, crazed by the novel excitements which 
surrounded them, the imprisoned soldiers and those of their 
intoxicated com])anions who were yet at large made of Mo- 
bile a veritable Babel. On the morning of June 24, 1898, 
more than 400 men were al)sent without leave, from one of 
the regiments at Spring Hill. 

On June 23, the First Louisiana left for Miami and the 
next day the First Alabama and General Sc-hwan and his 
staff followed. The train bearing the Alabamiays jiassed 
through Mobile, the various sections remaining long enough 
in the union station to permit the men to bid the 
assembled throngs farewell. The advance guard, on the first 
section, left "Camp Coppinger" at JO a. m. The next sec- 
tion, bearing the first six companies of soldiers, reached the 
union station at 2:30 p. m. The troops left earlier than the 
published programme had announced, but the Ladies' Sol- 
diers' Belief Association provided an abundance of tasteful 
lunches and delicacies for those aboard the train. 

Brigadier General Gordon remained at Spring Hill in 
command of his brigade. At noon of that day the soldiers 
confined in the guardhouse in Mobile made a desperate 
effort to escape. Captain Camp of Compan}' B, Second 
Alabama, was in charge. The prisoners shattered the win- 
dows, hurled bricks at the guardsmen and made violent 
efforts to tear the building down. For awhile, the situation 
was serious. But word was sent to Lieutenant Russell of 
the auxiliary cruiser Powhatan, (hen in port, and he lauded 
a squad of ten marines who marched to the guardhouse with 
a number of hand-cuflfs and irons which were fastened on 




IsT LIEUT. SHERWOOD BOXXER. 
Battalion Adjutant, Second Ricoimknt Ai.a. Vols. 



(iHOTO BY LIVINGSTON, MONTQoMEftV. 



Southern Martyrs. 145 

the more violent prisoners. Meanwhile, several citizens 
were struck with bricks thrown by inmates of the guard- 
house. The culprits had torn up the flooring of the build- 
ing and thus obtained their missiles. 

In the struggles to handcuff some of the prisoners, several 
ugly gashes and cuts were inflicted ; and altogether the day 
was one of the most exciting in the lives of those who were 
on provost guard at the time. 



XO 



CHAPTER YII. 



FROM iMOBILE TO MIAMI. 




^HE same day that witnessed tlie departure of Col- 
^ onel Higdou's regiment for Miami marked one of the 
most impressive incidents in the history of tlie 
Second Ahibama. Late iu tlie afternoon of June 24, 1898, 
a number of Mobile women presented to the Second Regi- 
ment Alabama Volunteers a Hag ami a deed of gift for a set 
of band instruments. The banner itself was not ready on 
that day and the company flag of the Warrior Guards was 
used as a substitute for the presentation. The flag com- 
mittee, a])pointed several weeks before by Mrs. Harvey E. 
Jones, was composed of Misses Nellie Harrison, Amante 
Semmes, Grace Hopkins, Annie Prince, Lovie Gleunon and 
Florence Glennon. Miss Semmes, a grand-daughter of the 
famous Raphael Semmes, was selected to present the 
flag; but the Clara Schumann Club, which, aided by the 
St. Cecelia Chorus, provided the band instruments, had 
delegated Misses Daisy Tacon, Eoline Russell, Lovie 
Glennon and Waldover to represent it. Misses Grace Hop- 
kins, Maribel Williams and Annie Prince officiated as maids 
of honor for Miss Semmes. 

The regiment was drawn up in close order in a hollow 
square facing to the inside. In the center stood a bench 
for the speakers. The gathering dusk deepened the shadows 
of the surrounding forest. It was difficult to disguise the 
seriousness that moved many to pretend gaiety. The troops 
were going to the front, everyone thought, and, in a few 
days, that^flag fluttering in the center might wave over a 



Southern Martyrs. 147 

bloody field strewn with the bodies of kinsmeu and friends. 
The feelings that swayed the assemblage were reflected in 
the words of the speakers — words such as no other scene 
or circumstance could have prompted. 

"We of the South have always been proud of our heroes," 
Miss Semmes said. "Is there in all this broad land of ours 
one heart that does not beat high at the mention of Wash- 
ington — of Lee? * * * j^y^^i gygjj when the 
end had come, and Lee laid down his sword at Appomatox, 
and our Bonnie Blue Banner was folded reverently and laid 
silently, sadly away, its glorious story told its noble drama, 
played out to the end for long, weary years of doubt and 
mistrust. We were still a divided nation, and the term 
United States seemed but an empty sound, a hollow 
mockery ; for the pride, the arrogance of conquest on one 
side, the bitterness of defeat on the other, kept far asunder 
the hearts of the North and the South. In that war, brother 
had fought against brother, father against son, and it was 
hard to forgive, harder still to forget. But now that is past 
forever. The throbbing wound is healed and once again, in 
very truth, we are a united people. When the call for volun- 
teers rang through the land, from North and South alike, 
the answer rose : 'We come,' and side by side, against a 
foreign and an alien foe, the victors and the vanquished, 
the boys in blue and the boys in grey, forgetting that they 
were ever foes, remembering only that they are friends and 
brothers, are fighting for one cause, in one uniform and 
under one flag. 

"Into your keeping we give your country's flag. Guard 
it well, because it is your country's and, therefore, sacred, 
and let it be to you, each and every one, a symbol of honor 
and truth, valor and patriotism and all other virtues ; and 
so we will show to the world that American manhood is the 
highest type of manhood and the American nation is second 
to none. May your flag, consecrated by our love and 
prayers, lead you on from triumph unto triumph and may 



148 From Mobile to Miam. 

its silken folds and glorious colors shine afar, high above 
the dust and smoke of battle, a harbinger of victory, a rain- 
bow on the cloud of war," 

Major Brandon received the flag and in his response, too, 
rang Southern pride mingled with Southern loyalty. "Tell 
me of Grecian courage and Roman valor, tell me of the dar- 
ing Stuart or ihe dauntless Forrest, but chivalry never had 
a truer representative than the loved Semmes, Mobile's 
own distinguished soldier," he said ; and in the next breath 
welled up a paean of tribute to the flag which the Confed- 
erate hero had fought. "Telegraphic wires link the hearts 
of every soldier, from the humblest private to the most dis- 
tinguished oflicer, and whenever a current thrills along the 
line, whether of joy or grief, whether of victory or defeat, it 
touches a note of harmony in every breast. And so, today, 
fellow soldiers, as the bright eyes of the women of our fair 
Southland l(K)k into ours, and their lips bid us Godspeed 
in our well-nigh holy cause, and with tiieir tender hands 
place into ours this flag, we kneel in spirit and swear that 
it shall wave only in victory. Bat, Miss Semmes, while I 
cannot wreathe for you and the ladies who have presented 
to us this flag, a garland all radiant with the flowers of 
poesy and rhetoric, I can come, in a soldier's plain, blunt 
way, and say thank you, and in thi^ assertion I voice the 
sentimencs of every soldier here, and, ere long, Cuba will be 
heard to sing the 'Star-Spangled Banner, in triumph doth 
wave o'er the land of the free and the hom^ of the brave.'" 
Gen. J. W. Whiting introduced Miss Daisy Tacon, who 
presented in behalf of the Clara Schumann Club the deed 
of gift to the set of band instruments. Capt. E. M. Robin- 
son responded and in his well-rounded sentences was clear- 
ly conveyed the spirit of patriotic reunion that bound the 
soldiers of every section in one common comradeship uuder 
Alabama's standard, "Take back to the ladies of Mobile," 
he said to the fair donors, "our grateful acknowledgments 
with the confident assurauce_| that _every soldier's heart 



Southern Martyrs. 149 

among lis goes out to them in affectionate appreciation. 
Bear to them, from us, the faithful promise that the regi- 
ment which they have honored will return from this mo- 
mentous conflict like the historic Spartan patriot, either 
'with their shields or upon them.' Tell them for us, that 
whether in the Everglades of Florida, on the fruit-laden 
shores of Porto Rico or on Cuba's burning plains, the mem- 
ory of their kindnesses will quicken the pulses of courage 
and awaken anew the fires of patriotic fervor. Tell them 
that in the gloomy dungeon or on the fields of fame — in 
blood-washed trenches or on towering parapets of glory — 
the men who today have greeted you with chivalric and en- 
thusiastic cheers will rend the blue skies that bend above 
the 'Gem of the Antilles' with the joyous shouts of victory 
achieved ; until the soul-stirring strains of 'Dixie,' mingling 
with the martial music of 'Yankee Doodle,' and drifting on 
into the majestic melody of 'The Star Spangled Banner,' 
echoing and re-echoing from Mantanzas, Santiago and 
Havana shall proudly proclaim to a waiting world that 
Spanish infamy has been punished, the heaven-blest cause 
of humanity has triumphed and oppressed and bleeding 
Cuba is, at least, forever free." 

As a fitting punctuation to the unique ceremony, the 
band struck up "Dixie," and 1,000 enthusiastic throats 
yelled themselves hoarse. 

The Second-Texas Volunteer Infantry left for Miami on 
June '25. It was Saturday — the last week day remaining 
before the departure of the Second Alabama; and many of 
the men of that regiment were eager to dispose of personal 
matters preparatory to what might prove their last leave- 
taking. Hundreds of them lived in or near the Gulf City 
and they were eager to transact business of moment to them- 
selves and their families. Up to that time they had expe- 
rienced the utmost laxity of discipline. The regiment had 
not received any wages. The muster having taken place 



150 From Mobile to Miami. 

subsequent to the close of the previous month, the pay rolls 
for May had not been submitted in time for liquidation in 
June. Many of the men had already been without funds 
for six or seven weeks and a visit to Mobile on that last 
week da}' meant to them much of personal importance. 

But Brig. Gen. W. W. Gordon, who had assumed com- 
mand of the Second Brigade only a few days before, inter- 
vened. He forbade the issuance of any passes. No one 
could go to town, he declared. Consternation resulted in 
the Second Alabama. Fervent appeals were made by men 
who ordinarily had no favors to seek. One man showed 
that if he were not permitted to visit Mobile that day, he 
would suffer a pecuniary loss of several hundred dollars. 
Others presented equally urgent requests for leaves of ab- 
sence. But General Gf^rdon was obdurate. Unofficially, 
the explanation was made that he with-held passes because 
of the scenes and doings of disorder in Mobile during the 
previous two days. 

No consideration was given the fact that the Second Ala- 
l)ama had not been party to these riott)Us incidents ; that, 
being still unpaid, the regiment was entitled to more oppor- 
tunities for procuring personal conveniences than were the 
more fortunate commands; and that, withal, innocent and 
unoffending soldiers were being punished for the mischiev- 
ousness of others. Officers were denied the privilege of 
issuing leaves to reliable men. The officers themselves 
were required not to leave camp. The enlisted men, ob- 
serving the indignity Avith which the commanding general 
treated their superiors, grew to think less than ever of the 
volunteers' shoulder straps. 

That was the Second Alabama's first experience with the 

querulousness and inconsiderateuess of Brig. Gen. W. W. 

Gordon. The next day, Sunday, passes were issued — after 

the material opportunities offered by week-day transactions 

had been lost to the men who begged them. 

The Second Louisiana left for Miami that day. 

******* 



Southern Martyrs. 151 

Grief strove with jubilance for mastery at Spring Hill 
that Sunday afternoon. Hundreds of men, women and 
children visited the volunteers' camp to bid the soldiers 
farewell — some perhaps forever. Mothers and sons wept 
on each other's shoulders ; fathers spoke solemnly and 
sternly ; brothers and sisters wrung tearful adieus. 

The preparations for departure had been in progress in 
the Second Alabama for several days. Some time before, 
inquiry was made by the War Department as to the num 
ber of men in the First Division of the Fourth Army Corps 
who were considered immune to yellow fever. The Second 
Alabama reported that sixty-five per cent, of its members 
claimed to be immunes. The First Alabama made report 
of nearly as large a percentage. This inquiry, together 
with the fact that 7,500 ball cartridges had been issued to 
each first sergeant, led the rank and file to believe 
Miami would be the point of their embarkation for Cuba 
or Porto Rico. This belief gave jubilance to the vol- 
unteers and grief to their relatives. And the same idea, 
communicated to the public, intensified the interest that 
attracted crowds of spectators to the camp on the morning 
of June 27 — the time set for the Second Alabama's departure. 

There was much disappointment in the regiment over the 
fact that the railroad arrangements precluded an opportun- 
ity for their friends to bid them farewell in the union sta- 
tion at Mobile. Not only was the Second Alabama denied 
the means of passing through the city where thousands of 
friends and relatives had assembled to meet them, but a 
ridiculously roundabout route was chosen for them 
via Columbus, Miss., and Tuscaloosa, Ala., over the Mobile 
& Ohio Railroad to Montgomery. The other regiments had 
been sent through Mobile, but the Second Alabama, a great 
number of whose members had relatives living in and near 
the Gulf City, wei'e sent over the out-of-the-way route. 
This circumstance, which engendered a good deal of ill- 
feeling in Southern Alabama, was due to a misunderstand- 



152 From Mobile to Miami. 

ing between Capt. F. W. Cole, chief quartermaster for the 
First Division, and some of the officials of the Louisville <fe 
Nashville Railroad. The direct road to Miami was over 
the Louisville & Nashville via River Junction and if the 
regiment had been sent that way, it would have reached 
Jacksonville earlier than it arrived at Montgomery. 

The unnecessary fatigues and inconveniences, thus im- 
posed on the Second Alabama by the absurd addition of 
several hundred miles to its itinerary, were afterward at- 
tributed to a lack of friendliness on the part of Captain 
Cole for the Louisville & Nashville, but his eftbrt to punish 
that corporation resulted only in a severe punishment of 
the soldiers. Captain Cole had taken advantage of a tech- 
nical deviation from its contract by the Louisville Sc Nash- 
ville and sought to use the Second Alabama as a cat's-paw 
with which to scratch the railroad. The unpleasantness 
accruing to the volunteers from this arbitrary course was 
accentuated at Montgomery where they were again prevented 
from seeing a host of friends and relatives who had gathered 
there at the Louisville tt Nashville's union station to tell 
them good-bye. The Mobile tV: Ohio had no contract at 
the time with the Louisville & Nashville and the latter, 
naturally, did not see fit to extend to its rival the use of its 
union station in Montgomery and to thus, by enhancing the 
conveniences afforded by the carrying line, increase its own 
discomfiture. 

Because an army official saw fit to vent what afterward 
assumed the complexion of partisan spleen, the six com- 
panies from Mobile and the Alabama capital were denied 
the comfort of seeing their home towns for what might have 
been to many of the men the last time. 

But the benevolent women of Mobile did not permit 
this incident to undo their kindly plans. A number of the 
departing soldiers' relatives reached Spring Hill in time to 



Southern Martyrs. 153 

bid the volunteers farewell. A brisk rain descended while 
the regiment was waiting to board the cars, and the gloomi- 
ness of the inclement weather added to the melancholy of 
the parting scenes. Sobbing women confided their sons, 
brothers and husbands to the care of their officers ; and 
every captain in the regiment was begged to assume a tem- 
porary fatherhood over scores of men. The Ladies' Soldiers' 
Relief Association lent to the departure an abundance of 
good cheer. A special train was furnished b}^ the Mobile 
& Ohio railroad to enable a delegation of Mobilians to in- 
tercept the departing regiment at Whistler. A store of 
sandwiches and toothsome lunches was piled on the special 
baggage car. At Whistler the edibles were distributed 
among the soldiers. Each of the other five regiments of 
^the First Division of the Fourth Army Corps also received 
generous supplies of cold lunches when they passed through 
Mobile. These comforting contributions came from a 
number of motherly women, few of whom received adequate 
appreciation of their innumerable deeds of kindliness to the 
volunteers. Mrs. Electra Semmes Colston, one of the fore- 
most women in this work of charity, explained that the 
credit for the inauguration of the lunch distributions 
among the departing soldiers belonged to Mrs. William H. 
Eioss and that she was diligently assisted in the work by 
Mesdames William Mastin, I. G. Thomas, and Richard 
Sheridan. Among the others who helped to distribute good 
cheer among the Second Alabama were: Mesdames J.. K. 
Gleunon, Christian, Gaynor, Gazzam and Vaughan ; Misses 
Amaute Semmes, Mordecai, Harrison, Boone, Glennon, 
Hopkins, Thomas, Hughes, Wheeler, Berney, Tacon, Yid- 
mer, Middleton, Partridge, Rencher, Brewer and Cameron. 
But to none was more credit due than Mrs. Harvey E. 
Jones, whose industry in behalf of the volunteers' comfort 
never relaxed. Even after the departure of the troops from 
Mobile, Mrs. Jones and her gentle co-workers continued 
their labors among the sick soldiers left behind at the Ma- 



154 From Mobile to Miami. 

riue Hospital. To far off Miami and, afterward, Jackson- 
ville, the loving thoughts and considerateuess of these 
women followed the soldier boys. Pajamas, shirts, sheets, 
pillow-cases, underclothing and numerous other useful arti- 
cles were sent to (>ha})lain Harte for the hospital. Money 
was also sent him to purchase delicacies for tlie sick ; and 
he was instructed to call on the Ladies' Stjldiers' Relief 
Association for au3'tliing of service that could be forwarded 
to him. The innumerable kindnesses of Mrs. Jones to the 
soldiers were emulated by many other Mobile women, but 
various circumstances contributed to blazon her in both 
Alabama regiments as a ministering angel. Col. Harvey E. 
Jones, her husband, was probably more widely known 
among the Alabama troops than any other Mobilian, and 
the scores of letters that he received from Confederate vet- 
erans and other friends begging him to "look after" their 
boys in different companies, were turned over to his wife ; 
and before the two regiments left Spring Hill her personal 
acquaintance had extended to every company in the two 
commands. 

***** ***** 

The trip to Miami was a sequence of hearty receptions. 
The volunteers were elated. The cordiality of the towns 
en route made the soldiers' lot appear for the nonce much 
better than the government's iucousiderateness had ren- 
dered it. Fruits and sandwiches were tossed into the trains 
at dozens of stations. Each regiment's transportation facil- 
ities consisted of three sections composing in the aggregate 
thirty-two cars and coaches. The first sections, composed 
of fourteen cars each, bore the advance guard in charge of 
the stock and equipage. The following sections each car- 
ried thirteen coaches alloted to six companies and a Pull- 
man coach for the officers. 

Five days' travel rations were furnished the men but the 
lavish donations en route afforded ample and much more 



Southern Martyrs. 155 

tasteful subsistence. The trains made moderate progress 
and the soldiers seemed to regard the trip as a prodigiously 
pleasant excursion. At one place in Georgia, men on one 
of the Second Alabama's sections climbed through the car 
windows and innocently raided a neighboring watermelon 
patch while the engine was taking on water. At Fort 
Pierce, Fla., a committee of citizens furnished chicken and 
ham sandwiches, gratis. Pineapples were flung into the 
cars at every stopping place in Florida ; and at Jensen, a 
citizen, Ed Coon, gave a whole carload of the luscious fruit 
to the soldiers. Those were merry days for the volunteers 
— but, then came the martyrdom of Miami. 

The First Alabama reached the "Camp of Horrors" on 
June 26. Colonel Cox's command, the last of the division 
placed en route, arrived there, June 30. 



CHAPTER YIII. 



WHAT CIVILIANS SAW. 



JfifvOHN S. Kend-ill and C. A. Williams, correapoudents 
^ife "'^'itli the First Division, Seventh Army Corps — the 
^i^^ regiments from Texas, Louisiana and Alabama hav- 
ing been transferred in the latter ])art of June from 
General Coppingers's to General Lee's command — for 
the New Orleans Piciujunv and Houston Post, resj>eotivelv, 
have furnished the subjoined personal letters. Both gentle- 
men shared the comforts of the officers' tents and messes or 
lived occasionally among the more civil surroundings of the 
town of Miami itself. Tiieir views, therefore, are the im- 
pressions of men who saw but did not suffer. And then, 
too, as "outsiders," they were frt'ijUtMitly debarred from cof- 
nizauce of outrages and impositions that go to make up 
those Satanic arcana classed as "regimental secrets." 

But what these gentlemen write is instructive : 

Jacksonville, Fla., October lo. 1898. 

A full story of the camp at Miami, Fla., will probably 
never be written. Each man knows what came under his 
own observation ; but none of n.s suffered the full round of 
privation and disease in that place. The stories which 
have been printed about Montauk and the other camps in 
the north, where the troops from Santiago were tiken after 
the fall of the city, were anticipated in Miami. The same 
inefficiency, official neglect and cruel suffering occurred at 
both places. But at Miami there were circumstances which 
made the troops specially worthy of recognition as heroes 
and martyrs. 

They were taken there to gratify a private enterprise and 
to compensate a political debt. They were sent to a climate 
as hot and debilitating as any that American troops have 



Southern Martyks. 157 

been required to exist in. They were compelled to per- 
form not once, but constantly, the evolutions that soldiers 
are expected to execute on the battlefield ; and this, in 
scorching heat without water, without proper food and 
through a country which in wildness and ruggedness 
equaled, if it did not surpass, the jungles of Santiago. 

Men died from the hardship of the work. It was noth- 
ing for a hundred men to fall exhausted on the stones of that 
jungle-laud and be taken in the ambulances to linger 
through tedious illnesses in the hospital. 

Tliey camped in sand where every breeze whirled the 
dust and dirt into their food ; they sweltered by day under 
the sun-baked tents and by night shivered in the wet wind. 
They drank water impregnated by the refuse of the 
camps and thick with unmentionable foulness. They were 
taken to hospitals where the chief surgeon acknowledged 
no authority and refused to give them the attention which 
their commanders demanded for them. In their illness 
they tossod on sheetless mattresses, tormented by flies and 
insects, lacking the attention of skilled nurses, inadequately 
supplied with medicines, half the time without ice or milk 
and never furnished with those dainties for which an in- 
valid yearns, until three disinterested ladies undertook to 
supply them at their own expense. What wonder that they 
died ? And those who survived — are they not entitled to 
the honor and aflfection of their fellow-countrymen ? Have 
they not suffered as much as those whom a better fortune 
sent to the brief and glorious hardships of an active cam- 
paign in the enemy's country ? I think they are entitled 
to be remembered with those other heroes who fell at San 
Juan and El Caney. They had a patient and uncomplain- 
ing courage which, to us, who lived among them and saw 
their suffering, appeared as sublime an exhibition as 
ever war has shown. This is the part of the story which 
will never be told. 

I began by saying that no one of us knew the full extent 



158 What Civilians Saw. 

of wl)at our men suffered. I end by sayinj; that no one but 
the God of Battles knows the limit of the heroism, the 
patriotism, the silent devotion and the uncomplaining en- 
durance that was wasted in that camp whose beauty so ill- 
accords with its pestilence-haunted history. 

John S. Kendall. 
******* 

Houston, Tex., October 15, 18S8. 

Truly, no more apt term than "Southern Martyrs" could 
be a])plied to the soldiers of the First Division, Seventh 
Army Corps, who for seven long and weary weeks suflFered 
all the hardships of an active cam])aign, notwithstanding 
the fact that they were in their own peaceful country and 
that their only enemies were an incompetent War Department 
and a millionaire investor wliose political " pull " was 
proved to be so powerful as to completely overshadow and 
over-ride the recommendations and protests of staff officers 
appointed b}- the United States government for the purpose 
of protecting its interests and the interests of its arm}'. 

It is a sad commentary on this grand republic of ours 
that at such a time the influence of a capitalist should be 
considered above and beyond the re]iorts made to the War 
Department by such men as Brigadier General James F. 
Wade, Lieut. Col. Curtis Guild, Jr., and Lieutenant Col- 
onel Mans, the latter two of General Fitzhugh Lee's staff. 
Yet such was the case at Miami, Fla., the southern term- 
inus of the Florida East Coast Eailway and the southern- 
most point in Florida reached by a railroad. 

Miami is a paradox, if there ever was one. In the im- 
mediate vicinity of the Royal Palm Hotel, where the beau- 
tiful ^liami River joins its limpid waters with those of 
Biscayne Bay, where tro])ical trees, lovely as a painted 
picture, stir softly over lawns of velvet green, in response 
to the caresses of the languorous Southern breeze, where, 
the white-winged boats go out across the bay, between the 



SOUTHEKN MaRTYKS. 159 

keys, into the broad Atlantic beyond, where every live 
thing seems happy and glad, where, in short, "every pros- 
pect pleases and only man is vile" — there is beauty indeed, 
and of a kind which would warm the heart of the painter 
and intoxicate the senses of the lover of the artistic in art 
and nature. 

But behind this picture there is another, a horrible, fest- 
ering, repulsive, putrefying picture, like unto the whitening 
bones of a grinning skeleton masked by the form of a beau- 
tiful, voluptuous woman, a picture which is buried indeli- 
bly into my memory, there to remain as long as life — a pic- 
ture of man's inhumanity to man, where human beings were 
treated like brutes and, after so long a time, debased to the 
level of the animal, the larger portion of their kindly in- 
stincts, their innate refinement and their respect oif the 
Deity crushed and ground out of them by the ceaseless 
pressure. 

As I close my eyes and look back over the events of the 
past five months, the impressions received on my arrival at 
Miami — the first newspaper correspondent to enter there — 
are clear and distinct. The beauty of the place appealed to 
me strongly and I felt satisfied with the lot which cast me 
there until the novelty and the glamour passed away, the 
scales dropped from my eyes and the real took the place of 
the ideal. Volunteer soldiers who had never known what 
it was to labor, slaved away in the broiling sun, clearing the 
ground — if ground it can be called — of the heavy boulders, 
the sharp and jagged portions of coraline rock, the palmetto 
scrub, the heavy logs, the wandering roots of the tropical 
trees and the thousand and one other obstacles which en- 
cumbered all of the region except that which had been im- 
proved by the Flagler people at the expense of millions of 
dollars. There had been practically no attempt made to 
clear the territory alloted to any of the six regiments com- 
posing the division, except that assigned to the First Texas 
which was the first to arrive and which was located directly 



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SeeotHni Tex 



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Southern Martyrs. 161 

so ? The War Department bad already declared its iuten- 
tion of reserving the Seventh Corps for a winter campaign, 
yet the First Division of this once great organization was 
drilled as it miglit have been drilled had there been any 
chance whatever of its seeing immediate service. 

Over that God-forsaken road to that alleged drill ground 
marched the men of six regiments every day. The burning 
sun beat down upon them, the thick dust was in their 
lungs and in their nostrils, they were bathed in perspira- 
tion. Surely the Rough Hiders in that never-to-be-forgotten 
charge of theirs, did no harder work, nor, aside from the 
Mauser bullets, suffered more. Yet not a man complained. 
Many fell out of the ranks and sought the scant shade of 
the trees by the roadside when human endurance was taxed 
to its utmost, but not a murmur came from those brave 
Southern men. The blood which fired the heroes of the 
Lost Cause was in their veins. They had enlisted to de- 
fend the flag their fathers fought — hated then, but beloved 
now ; they hoped to meet the enemy and with that hope 
ever before their eyes they toiled and suffered on, bravely, 
unflinchingly. All honor be to them, say I ! 

And then, after a few days of this sort of life, the men 
who had been so full of health and life and vitality at Mo- 
bile, began to sicken and to die. They might possibly have 
withstood the ravages of the mosquitoes and the sandflies, 
and the fearfully hard drills and marches, had the things 
they put into their stomachs to build up the tissue de- 
stroyed by their labors, been of the proper character. But 
instead of pure, clean water, that greatest of all natural in- 
vigorators, they were given a poisonous, polluted fluid 
which has since been unhesitatingly condemned by the ex- 
perts of the Smithsonian Institute and by Dr. Archinard 
and Prof. Metz of New Orleans. This water was supposed 
to have its origin in pure springs back in the Everglades. 
The agents of the man who owned Miami said that this was 
11 



162 "What Civilians Saw. 

the case and the chief surgeon of the division corroborated 
their statements. Day after day the medical officers of the 
various regiments reported that such was not true — that 
the water came from surface wells, the juxtaposition of 
which to the sinks blasted in the porous earth, showed be- 
yond the shadow of a doubt that their output was not what 
it should be. 

And, finally, this chief surgeon who had claimed all along 
that there was nothing wrong with the water supply and 
that the enormous percentage of illness was not unusual, re- 
alized the danger of his position, saw whither his neglect, 
his incompetency was leading him while he bestowed his 
smiles on the loungers at the Royal Palm hotel; and called 
a halt — when it was too late. The horse had been stolen, 
the damage done, the seeds of disease planted in the sys- 
tems of those unfortunate men, there to thrive and flourish 
even after they were removed from that pest hole in which 
they were held so long. 

An effort, which was partially successful, was made to 
improve the water supply. No benefit was realized from 
this, however, until a few da^'s before the division was re- 
moved from Miami to Jacksonville, so the ^ood done was 
practically nil. 

Right here I wish to go on record as denouncing as the 
veriest rot the statements which have been made to the 
effect that the sickness at Miami was the result of indiscre- 
tions on the part of the men themselves — that they ate and 
drank things which they should not have allowed to have 
gone into their systems. The fallacy of this belief is proven 
conclusively by the fact that, although they had the same 
opportunities to eat and drink the same objectionable mat- 
ter at Mobile and Jacksonville, and improved these oppor- 
tunities to the utmost, the percentage of illness at the two 
camps last named was never over two per cent. Another 
denial of the statement mentioned above lies in the fact 
that for a time at Miami the percentage of illness was much 



Southern Martyrs. 163 

larger among the officers than among the men, notwith- 
standing the fact that the former did not gorge themselves 
with unripe fruit, citric acid, whiskey and other objection- 
able refreshments, as the latter are alleged to have done. 

The division hospital in which the sick men were sup- 
posed to be accommodated was by no means what it should 
have been. With accomodations for only 200 it at one 
time contained as many as 314. The attendance given 
the sick was not at all what might have been arranged 
had the proper attention been paid to this feature; and 
frequently the food furnished was of a very inferior quality 
and poorly cooked; and until Mrs. W. W. Gordon, the 
estimable wife of the commander of the Second Brigade, 
conceived the idea of establishing a convalescent hospital, 
men were frequently sent back to their companies when 
they should have been made comfortable and,given the best 
sort of attention. The Red Cross Society did what it could, 
but in that God-forsaken hole even this powerful and far- 
reaching organization was unable to secure ice and milk for 
the sick in anything like sufficient quantities. 

I venture the assertion that, had it not been for the 
Southern press, backed up, of course, by the proper sort of 
pressure, the First Division of the Seventh Army Corps 
would not have been rescued from Miami until the six regi- 
ments were entirely invalided. It was a hard fight and a 
long fight, but right and justice triumphed over greed and 
oppression and the volunteers were removed to the health- 
ful camp at Jacksonville. 

War in its worst forms is horrible, but in its worst forms 
it would hardly entail more suffering than did incompe- 
tence and neglect and ignorance and indifference at Miami, 
"sad Miami by the sea." 

C. Arthur Williams. 



CHAPTER IX. 



HOSPITAL HORRORS. 



^'^ TfcT^IAMI'S miseries were labeled iu the regimental 
fiYjcV' dispensaries. The division hospital contained 
^^Jf'j^h) only the horrors that could not be hidden inside 
the camps. But in the history of the medical department 
of the Second Alabama is told the story of sufferings re- 
vealed nowhere else. Major Kernachan and his staff en- 
countered as many obstacles and discouragemeuts as did 
Major Pugh and his assistants ; but because the experiences 
of the latter can be written from personal observation, they 
are given in instance of the adversities endured b}' Ala- 
bamians in the volunteer service. 

On May 9, 1898, the surgeons commenced work in Camp 
Johnston. Of the original appoiutes on Major Pugh's staff, 
Dr. G. C. Scott, assistant surgeon, and W. M. Mullens, chief 
hospital steward, were released from service iu the Second, 
the latter accepting a more lucrative position in the Third 
Alabama. 

At Camp Johnston, the surgeons found that the most 
prevalent ailments were catarrhal affections (colds) and 
diarrhoea, due to exposure or, rather, the volunteers' change 
from domestic customs to camp life. The scarcity of shel- 
ter and clothing was also largel}' responsible for this illness. 
When a mild case of small-pox developed in the Montgom- 
ery Greys, the surgeons endeavored to have every man vac- 
cinated who could not show a vaccination mark. Tiiey were 
deeply chagrined over the volunteers' prejudice against 



Southern Martyrs. ■ 165 

this method of prevention, a few of the soldiers deserting 
rather than submit to the vaccine inoculation. 

Mumps also appeared at Camp Johnston and clung to the 
two Alabama regiments with fluctuating virulence to the 
end. 

The pure water at Mobile enabled the surgeons to eradi- 
cate typhoid fever in its primary infection there. Two cases 
of this dread disease developed at Camp Johnston in the 
Troy Eifles. The patients were sent to the Marine Hospital 
at Mobile and the disinfecting process was carried into 
efi'ect in their vacated tents. Typhoid fever did not again 
assert itself until the regiment reached Miami. 

At Spring Hill, the surgeons had expected to receive full 
supplies of drugs, dressings and surgical instruments. They 
were shown, with much military formality, a large collec- 
tion of medical stores. They were also given a new medi- 
cal manual and instructed to fill out requisitions for any 
thing they needed. The division hospital steward, with 
very long, drooping moustaches, promised to fill these 
requisitions promptly. The surgical cases, litters, desks, 
chairs, tables, horses, saddles, pans, buckets and other hos- 
pital adjuncts to which the regiment was entitled, were 
"just out," it was explained, "but would be furnished in 
time." 

The order for needed drugs was given ; and it came 
back to the regimental dispensary with only one-half or 
one-fourth of some of the articles required, while other med- 
icines were stricken off the list altogether, the long-mous- 
tached steward sending the verbal explanation that the 
chests containing them were not yet open. This procedure 
was repeatedly gone through. Afterward, it was explained 
that the drugs had been packed for shipment to Miami and 
would be delivered to the regimental dispensaries there. 

Orders were received from Chief Surgeon Appel that all 
patients should be sent to the division hospital. The 
Second Alabama's sick were at once transferred in compli- 



166 Hospital Horrors. 

ance with these instructions, but the two most serious cases 
were immediately returned to the regiment with the mes- 
sage, by word of mouth, that the division hospital had no 
time to bother with them. 

One of these, W. E. Kollins, of Company G, applied at 
the regimental dispensary of the Second Alabama for treat- 
ment on the morning of June 27— just before the departure 
for Miami — and a diagnosis showed that his temperature 
registered at 104". The hospital ambulance passed on its 
regular tour shortly afterward and he was placed in it so 
that he might make the trip to Florida in the hospital train. 
But he was again returned to the regiment with the explan- 
ation that he could not be taken care of on the hospital 
'train. 

Major Pugh indited a protest against this action. It was 
submitted to Colonel Cox and approved by hira and Rollins 
was returned with it to the division hospital authorities. 
He claimed that he was again ordered back to his regiment 
which was just boarding the cars for Miami. Compelled 
to travel for three days and nights on a crowded, stuffy 
train, his health became so much impaired by fever that he 

afterward fell an easy victim to typhoid at Miami and died. 

***** ***j{.^ 

The increasing ordeals of the soldiers involved growing 
tribulations for the regimental surgeons. The difficulty of 
obtaining medicines for the Second Alabama's dispensary 
continued. The arrogance of the long-moustached steward 
was unabated. Such absolute necessities as quinine and 
calomel were obtained for a time from sources other than 
the division dispensary. 

Surgeon Pugh's repeated remonstrances were in vain. 
Finall}-, the gravity of the situation impelled him to adopt 
drastic measures. Preparing a requisition in the form of a 
forceful communication, he disregarded the dilatory process 
of sending it through military channels and forwarded it 
direct to the commanding general. Having observed that 



Southern Martyes. 167 

his' previous protests bad been pigeon-holed, he decided to 
pursue this method and thus bring the'matter to a finality. 
His inability to obtain necessary medicines was set forth to- 
gether with the fact that, after being in the service more than 
two months, he was yet without a single surgical instrument, 
the government having failed to supply him with even so much 
as a pair of forceps to extract a tooth or a lancet to open a 
boil. Requisition after requisition had been submitted for 
these things, he wrote, but without avail. There was con- 
siderable talk, at the division's medical headquarters, of a 
court-martial in connection with the Second Alabama's sur- 
geon, but the needed drugs and a case of surgical instru- 
ments reached Major Pugh without further requisition. 
This result, however, did not accrue until Major Pugh's 
complaint, or protest, had been sent back with the indorse- 
ment of Major Appel, the division's chief surgeon, saying : 
"Wants exaggerated ; requisitions not properly made out." 
Major Pugh promptly returned the document with this 
counter indorsement : "Requisitions made in exact com- 
pliance with instructions from Medical Manual and of the 
chief surgeon of the division and were never filled until this 
document was sent in ; wants not exaggerated — not fully 
stated ; facts are worse in this case than exaggerations." 

* * -x- * * * # 

Sickness continued to increase until not half the men in 
the regiment could be considered well ; and at the same 
time the surgical staff was crippled by illness. At this 
juncture, it became necessary to assign Dr. G. A. Sheldon, 
a contract surgeon, to the Second Alabama. During all 
this time, notwithstanding repeated requests from Major 
Pugh, the chief surgeon never visited the Second Alabama's 
camp. He sharply censured the regimental surgeons for 
the extent of their sick lists and insinuated, as far as his 
official position and license made it safe for him to do, that 
the surgeons were not vigilant enough in the detection of 
malingerers. The diagnosis of typhoid fever, as made by 



168 Hospital Horrors. 

the regimental surgeons of the Second Alabama and the 
Second Louisiana, were smiled at sarcastically. Ensconced 
in a luxurious couch in the Royal Palm hotel, in the midst 
of eminently congenial companions, with comforts and con- 
veniences especially amplified for his enjoyment by a 
hostelry the excessive obsequiousness of whose every at- 
tache indicated that he was a favored guest, lolling in a 
tranquility' almost sybaritic — it was not strange that the 
chief surgeon of the division was slow to acknowledge the 
horrors that raged in the camps a few hundred yards dis- 
tant. There should have been no wonder that he discour- 
aged adverse reports. He was loath to abandon the Eden 
into which he had strayed. 

But ceaseless protests from the regimental surgeons and 
the storm of indignation that swept throughout the South 
had their result. Lieut. Col. L. M. Mans, chief surgeon for 
the Seventh Army Corps, accompanied by Lieut. Col. Curtis 
Guild, inspector general on Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's staff, 
went to Miami to investigate. As soon as the red tape — 
broad, red tape which had already coiled in fatal folds 
around many noble American boys — could be disposed of, 
Lieutenant Colonel Mans was shown the true condition of 
affairs while Lieutenant Colonel Guild inspected the men — 
the pale, anaemic, jaundiced, fever-racked Alabamians who, 
six weeks before, had formed the giant regiments of the 

South. 

* * * * * * * 

The regimental surgeons showed Lieutenant Colonel 
Maus abundant reason for the division's immediate removal, 
but the trammels of military formality withheld from him 
intelligence of scores of circumstances that went to make 
up the wretchedness, misery, agonies and torments of 
Miami. His investigation was made along general lines. 
Tt dit not delve into the instances of individual torture that 
made Miami for many men worse than the unspeakable 
black hole of Calcutta. It did not deal with the absence of 



Southern Martyrs. 169 

proper nourishment for the patients, of the employment of 
incompetent and imtrained nurses. 

Lieutenant Colonel Maus found that Miami's climate has 
a torridity equal to that of Cuba without the mollient fea- 
tures of mountains and cool mountain streams. He found 
that the camp was laid on a coraline wall that shuts the 
Everglades off from the ocean. The surface of this wall is 
covered by a stratum of sand which greedily devours the 
extraordinary rainfall that prevails. It seemed to those 
who inspected the camps that some seismic disturbance 
had raised the soil to an altitude fifteen or twenty feet above 
the sea level. The rock, torn and battered in this upheaval, 
lay scattered in all directions, sharp, jagged corners and 
points jutting up, half-covered by the dark foliage of the 
tropics or submitting to the tendril-like embraces of the 
wiry palmetto roots. This rock was undergoing a process 
of disintegration in which the regimental surgeons discov- 
ered an alarming development. A large element of animal 
or nitrogenous matter, preserved inside the rock for a period 
by the presence of lime, was escaping from its prison and 
charging the rain water that percolated from rock to soil 
and finally accumulated underneath the sand stratum. The 
water thus charged beeame a most energetic medium for the 
propogation of the bacillus communis coll and the hacillus 
typhosus. Afterward, an analysis showed that water fur- 
nished the volunteers was charged with these bacilli — the 
germs of the bowel disorders and typhoid that carried off 

scores of Southern martyrs and ruined the health of others. 

******* 

The location of the Second Alabama's camp was more 
prolific of mortality than the quarters of any other regiment 
at Miami. Close by straggled the Miami river with its 
wide, marshy banks that were flooded and freed with the 
rise and fall of the tide. The water, semi-brackish, was of 
a character idealic for the abode of malaria. Major Pugh 
protested to the major general commanding that the Second 



170 Hospital Horrors. 

Alabama's camp was unfit for habitation, usiup; as one of 
liis arguments the fact that the rise and fall of the water in 
the river exposed malarial germs that menaced the health 
of the entire regiment. The general responded that he had 
investigated the matter and fonud the rise and fall of the 
tide averaged only four inches. The conversation drifted into 
general matters and mention was made that a little steamer 
had gone aground that morning in the mouth of the river. 
" She should have been afloat before this," the general com- 
mented, "as the water seems to have risen at least eighteen 
inches since she struck this m(jrniug. " And he did not 
seem to notice the contradictoriness of his own statements. 
******* 

On October 19, 1898, Dr. L. M. Maus testified before the 
War Investigating Committee. An Associated Press dis- 
patch of that date had this to say : 

"Dr. Maus was questioned in regartl to the camp at 
Miami. He said he had investigated it and found it to be 
unsuitable on account oi the water, which analysis had 
shown to be impure. 

"Mrs. Gordon, wife of General W. W. Gordon, in relation 
to the hospital at Miami, sent a letter in which she made 
serious charges, among others one to the effect that a hos- 
pital nurse had become intoxicated and set fire to a patient's 
bed, burning him somewhat, and another that flies were 
often found crawling into the mouths of dyiug i)atients. 

"Dr. Maus had a rejjort from Dr. Vilas, in charge of the 
hospital, read, admitting the statement concerning tlie 
burning of a patient's bed, but denj-iug all others. Dr. 
Maus expressed the opinion that the charges were exag- 
gerated." 

Dr. Alexander Kent, pastor of the People's Church at 
Washington, D. C, and field agent for the lied Cross So- 
ciety, who went to Miami to investigate the horrors there, 
also gave testimony before the War Investigating Commit- 



SOUTHEBN MaBTYRS. 171 

tee in October, 1898, and this extract from his deposition is 
apposite here : "Before the female nurses were secured, 
tho nurses, who were men of the hospital corps, were not 
capable. They were not intellifrent, as a class, and while 
some of them were doggedly faithful, they failed to meet 
the requirements. They did not, for instance, seem to re- 
gard it as of consequence if flies were crawling in and out 
of a sick man's mouth." 

* * * * * * * 

One scorching July afternoon, the writer, afflicted with a 
violent attack of fever, applied to the division hospital at 
Miami for treatment. Dr. Vilas, who was present, declined 
to receive him except on the order of his regimental sur- 
geon. Half delirious and scarcely able to walk, he turned 
away ; and were it not lor the charity of Dr. W. H. Oates, 
a contract surgeon, he would have been forced to essay the 
trip of more than a mile in the blazing heat to his 
quarters. Dr. Oates arranged for his treatment and 
the order for his acceptance in the hospital was received 
from Major Pugh that evening. The incident indicated 
the callousness that characterized the hospital service. 
Dr. Oates discovered that the writer's temperature at the 
time was a fraction more than 104°. "A walk back to the 
camp right now might kill you," he remarked. 

Two nights later, a typhoid fever patient in a ward ad- 
joining that in which the writer lay, narrowly escaped cre- 
mation at the hands of a drunken nurse. Covered with bed 
sores, emaciated into the likeness of a skeleton by tlie rav- 
ages of five weeks of typhoid, the victim was scarcely able 
to roll out of his tent. The nurse had overturned the lamp 
and thus set fire to the canvas. That was the case referred 
to by Mrs. Gordon in her letter to the War Investigating 

Committee. 

****** **** 

The next night, when fever-racked patients had won un- 



172 Hospital Horrors. 

certain repose from exbaustioD, a hulking hospital steward 
stalked iuto the ward with a lautern. In a flash ever}' pa- 
tient was awake. The intruder was escorting a drunken 
soldier to a place of rest. One peevish patient begged that 
the light be extinguished. "Shut up, there !" roared the 
visiting steward. The complaining man, querulous with 
fever, struggled to his feet. The steward advanced toward 
him threateninglj'. The ward nurse tactfully interfered ; 
but before noon, the patient who had complained of the 
disturbance, was* jibbering in delirium. 

The next day the steward, in charge of the ward in which 
the writer lay, became drunk. Half the patients failed to 
receive their medicines. Dr. Oates ordered the culi^rit un- 
der arrest. He was replaced by a nurse who celebrated his 
accession to authority by imitating his predecessor. Dr. 
Oates had him removed, also. 

Incompetent nurses, untrained and uutitted for hospital 
attendance, aggravated the illnesses of patients. The writer 
observed the case of two typhoid fever patients who were 
fed oatmeal in direct violation of the attending surgeon's 
instructions. One of them died before the writer was sent 
back to his regiment. Solid food of any sort is ordinarily 
fatal in conjunction with typhoid — the veriest tyro at nurs- 
ing is expected ,to know this— but there were hospital 
nurses at Miami better fitted for the slaughter-pen than the 
sick room. 

***** ***** 

Such comforts as finally reached the hospital patients 
came from civilians. Not enough milk was available to sus- 
tain the typhoid sufferers. Men died solely because they 
could not be given the proper sort of nourishment. It was 
not until shortly before the orders arrived for a removal 
to Jacksonville that arrangements were perfected for the 
shipment of milk to Miami in refrigerator cars from St. 
Augustine. 

There was no asylum for convalescents until Mrs. W. W. 



Southern Martyrs. 173 

Gordon, wife of the Second Brigade's commander, assisted 
by two charitable ladies, succeeded in establishing a ward 
for the benefit of men dismissed from the division hospital 
and yet too debilitated to return to duty. The Red Cross 
Society lent its aid ; and the painstaking and indefatigable 
industry of the chaplains did incalculable good to sufferers 
who could look nowhere else for comfort. In the self-sac- 
rificing attentions of persons unattached to the hospital 
service was found the only oasis in the desert of Miami 
martyrdom. 

Major Pugh protested again and again, with ever increas- 
ing vehemence, that the men were being done to death. 
Surgical boards of inquiry were appointed but soi-disant 
martinets sought to squelch their reports. One commission, 
of which Major Pugh, was a member, proved that though 
the Miami authorities had asserted that the water furnished 
the regiments came from the Everglades, it was taken from 
the surface wells or covered cisterns instead. General Gor- 
don advis(^d that this report be not made. He questioned 
its accuracy, he said. The indignant surgeons devised a 
ruse to substantiate their assertion. They cut o£f the pipe 
that ostensibly led from the Everglades, but the water sup- 
ply continued. Then they shut off the pipes that led from 
the covered cisterns ; and the water supply was suspended^ 
Thus it was proved that the entire division was drinking 
from the covered cisterns, most of which were tainted with 
seepage that had percolated through the sand and porous 
soil from the latrines. The board of inquiry made its re- 
port in the face of General Gordon's opposition. 

* 
J. A. McDonald, manager of Mr. Flagler's Miami inter- 
ests, resented Major Pugh's "officiousness." He sent a letter 
to Colonel Cox intimating that the Second Alabama's sur- 
geon was too eager to find fault. Major Pugh wrote a re- 
ply, couching it in such terms that his friends became ap- 



174 Hospital Horrors. 

prehensive of a duel. Tlifre really was a danger of a 
personal encounter. Nothing showed better the extent of 
bitterness to which the fight went to continue the Miami 
martyrdom. 

* ?■■■«•* ****** 

Meanwhile, Professor Metz, of New Orleans, announced 
the startling result of liis analyses of samples of Miami 
water forwarded to him l)y Major Archinard of the Second 
Louisiana. Every week, Major Pugh submitted a formal 
re])ort — like that of the regimental surgeons of the First 
and Second Texas and the First Alabama and Second 
Louisiana — declaring the systems of the men were so de- 
bilitated by hard drills, poor clothing and bad food that 
they offered an excellent field for the growth and spread of 
the disease germs that abounded ou all sides. The sur- 
geons were regularly re(iuired to explain the terrible in- 
crease of illness and tliat was their report. 

On Wednesday, July '27, ISUS, the division's sick list 
was as follows : 

Regiments. In Division In 

Ilospitiil. t2"i''tP''.s. 

First Texas 52 ri5 

First Louisianii 68 27 

First Alabama 40 48 

Second Texas 58 242 

Second Louisiana 39 73 

Second .\labaina 57 128 

Total 314 733 

And there were twice that number of men not on the sick 
list but really unfit for duty. When unreas(jnable officers 
intimated that there was a great deal of malingering, they 
were reminded of the tremendous amount of toil the soldiers 
had performed in clearing the land for their camp. "Men 
who work like that do not malinger," the surgeons said. 

■X-******** * 



Southern Martyrs. 175 

Commaiidiup; officers discredited the stories that Miami 
water was noxious or morbific. But the following official 
communicaiiou throws light on the situation : 

Headquarters Second Brigade, 

First Division, Seventh Army Corps, 

Camp at Miami, Fla., July, 26, 1898. 
Circular No. 12.] 

Regimental, battalion and company commanders will notify those 
detailed to boil the water for drinking and cooking purposes that it 
must be boiled steadily for at least one hour, in order to destroy the 
hurtful germs that may be in the water; and said commanders will 
see to it that this is done and will strictly prohibit the drinking or 
using for cooking any water that has not been boiled for at least one 
hour. 

By command of Brigadier General Gordon. 

RuFUs E. Foster, 2d Lt. 2d La. Vol. Infy., 

Acting Adjutant General. 

Before that day, the death-dealing rigors of the daily 
routine had been so forcefully pointed out that even the 
lethargic compassion of General Gordon was aroused 
and a chnuge was made — a change proving an absolute lack 
of consideration on the p.art of those who had charge of 
the Second Brigade at Miami. Conditions went from bad 
to worse. 

On July 14, 1898, during the inspection tour of Lieu- 
tenant Colonels Maus and Guild, orders were issued chang- 
ing the drill hours of the Second Brigade. Under General 
Order No. 15, it was required that "regimental commanders 
and regimental surgeons forward to the headquarters of the 
Second Brigade on Saturday, July 23, a report as to what 
effect the changes may have had upon the health of the offi- 
cers and men." Up to that time the drill hours had been : 
y to 10 a. ra. ; 1 to 4 p. in. The change effected on July 14 
embraced this routine: Reveille — first call, 4 a. m.; reveille — 
assembly, 4:20 a. m. ; mess — coftee and hard-tack, 4:30 a. m. ; 
drill — first call, 4:45 a. m. ; drill — assembly, 5 a. m. ; recall, 8 
a. m. ; mess — breakfast, 8:20 a. m. ; sick call, 8:40 a. m. ; 



176 Hospital Horrors. 

drill — first call, 2:50 p. m, ; drill — assembly, 3 p. m. ; recall, 
4 p. m. 

The folly of this change was shown in the increased 
sick list. In the First Alabama, Lieutenant Colonel 
McDonald had recognized that to accept these hours 
would be to stultify himself as an officer ; and he im- 
mediately consulted Brigadier General Wheatou who 
assured him that so long as he was in command his 
men would not be robbed of repose in order to suffer ad- 
ditional exposure to disease. The First Brigade declined 
the change of hours. In the Second Alabama, Major 
Brandon sent a letter to General Gordon setting forth 
the fact that men were dying every day and that much of 
the terrible ct)nditi()n of affairs was due to tiie early morn- 
ing drills — that "exhausted by nights of sleeplessness, the 
soldiers couhl not endure the excessive heat and terrible 
exercise occasioned by the now routine." 




MA.J. WILLIAM W. BRANDON, 
CoMMUG. Third Battalion, Second Regiment Ala. Vols. 



CHAPTER X. 




SOLDIER SLAVES. 



jR. Flagler appropriated $10,000 out of his own 
purse to aid in making habitable the camps at 
Miami. It was not from the manual labor of the 
volunteers that his agents expected his interests to profit. 
The advertisement of his health resort resulting from the 
presence there of a whole division of soldiers — that was the 
benefit his managers reckoned on. 

J. R. Parrott, as Mr. Flagler's representative, approached 
Brigadier General Gordon with reference to the men's tents. 
He told the general that lumber would cheerfully be fur- 
nished to floor every tent in camp. The commanding offi- 
cer of the Second Brigade of the First Division of the 
Seventh Army Corps, appointed to take care of nearly 
4,000 men, brusquely told Mr. Parrott he had charge of the 
camp and would tolerate no interference. He refused the 
lumber for the enlisted men's tents, though the officers 
managed to obtain wooden floorings for their own quarters. 

Mr. Parrott then went to Major General Keifer but met 
with no better success. The general commanding the First 
Division of the Seventh Army Corps was more courteous 
than the commander of the Second Brigade, but he was not 
one whit more eager to lend to the comfort of his men. 
Mr. Parrott was forced to abandon his mission, disgusted 
and sick at heart. 

This episode furnishes an insight into the treatment of 
the men at Miami. Weeks afterward, the War Department 
12 



178 Soldier Slaves. 

issued general orders that in all camps where soldiers were 
likely to remain for any length of time, the quartermasters 
sliould issue lumber for l;eut-flooriug. But Generals Keifer 
and Gordon had denied their men this comfort and hygienic 
protection when the material therefor could have been 
secured without cost to them or the government. 

It was claimed that these oflScers sought to harden their 
commands for the privations of a Cuban campaign. But 
they subjected them to such distresses and hardships that 
before a month had passed at Miami, the division was more 
in need of tender ministrations than fitted for military dut}-. 
Exquisite torture so deadened their souses that the men 
did not fully realize the extent of thoir sufferings until a 
return to endurable conditions pointed out the unspeakable 
contrast between reasonable treatment and the handling 
they had received. 

Every regiment in the division, save the First Texas, was 
forced to convert a tract of land, no more penetrable than 
the chapparals of Texas, into an unencumbered waste. The 
work was stupendous. When the Second Alabama reached 
the site selected for its camp, the men could scarcely be- 
lieve it was intended to pitch tents. The ground was prac- 
ticall}' impassable. Field officers dismounted in order to 
pick their way through the palm-covered knolls, so honey- 
combed with jagged stones that a fall or a mis-step meant a 
serious accident. The walk of half a mile from the railroad 
depot alone involved an extraordinary exertion. Sand and 
dust of the fineness of pulverized borax cluttered the miser- 
able paths to a depth varying from four to ten inches. 

Every step raised a stifling cloud. 

******* 

The work of clearing this jungle-land was prosecuted with 
a vigor that proved the industry of the men. But no slaves 
ever toiled harder under a more terrible strain Avith less 
reward than did those American patriots, struggling with 
interminable^palmetto roots, tugging at huge bowlders and 



Southern Martyrs. 179 

breaking rock to ballast a laud so uneven that a furrowed 
field were like a polished plane beside it. Then when the 
day's slavery had ended, caine a night of mingled anguish 
and exhaustion. Sand flies and mosquitoes — the diaboli- 
cally industrious galliuippers of the tropics — joined forces 
with venomous bugs to make repose impossible. Relief 
from myriad bites and stings was obtained only on the lee- 
side of a brush fire where the smoke exorcised both sleep 
and the insects. 

Weaker than when they retired, the men arose in a chill- 
ing dew for reveille. Then came the daily routine of drills 
and slavery, apparently devised with devilish ingenuity to 
destroy the last bit of remaining endurance. Two miles 
and more over unused wagon roads, so weighted with sand 
and dust that the distance seemed quadrupled, brought the 
men to what was intended for their drill ground. The 
march itself was debilitating. 

At first these long, strength-stealing, brain-searing tramps 
were made in the afternoon, so shortly after the mess call 
that there was little or no opportunity to digest the almost 
indigestible food. It was 1 o'clock when the men left camp. 
Recall was ordered blown at 4. Several thousand men en- 
veloped in dense clouds of malodorous sand and dust are 
uncomfortable. But when these several thousand men are 
encumbered with guns, marching in close order, the fierce- 
ness of the suq's heat re-enforced by an extraordinary radi- 
ation of animal warmth, every step increasing the density 
of the dust clouds, swarms of stinging galliuippers boring 
through uniforms and shirts — when men are thus tried and 
the torture of unquenched thirst gripes them, then the 
condition becomes intolerable. But American soldiers — 
Southern martyrs — bore these things until Death joined 
hands with Exhaustion and the two specters held revel in 

the Miami camps — the court of Official Incompetence. 

******* 

There were few canteens. The government had not yet 



180 Soldier Sla\t:s. 

fully equipped one-third of the men. Indeed, some of the 
volunteers were so poorly clothed that it became impracti- 
cable for them to drill. The scant supply of shoes soon 
wore out. Men went practically bare-footed. Captain 
Robinson, of Company E, Second Alabama, bought shirts 
for forty of his men at a Miami store. 

But the dearth of canteens wrought more hardships than 
did the absence of any other article of 'equipment. The 
terrible heat was alone sufficient to cause thirst, but the se- 
verity of the marches to the "drill ground" intensified the 
craving for water. The dust and sand arose in such density 
that for minutes at a time the soldiers could not see an 
arm's-length ahead. In the stifling, choking darkness of 
these marches their thirst became excruciating. 

A stagnant, noisome ditch skirted the drill ground and 
during the first few days the men begged permission to 
quench their thirst from it. But tha tepid, bad-tasting 
dregs turned the stomach. The men did not need, after 
that, to be forbidden to drink from it. Wagons were or- 
dered to haul water for the men on drill. But frequently 
the barrels were overturned before the wagons reached the 

soldiers. Seldom did they give the men relief. 

******* 

On the afternoon of July 7, the Second Alabama went 
through its first regimental drill in extended order. Between 
the drill field and the Miami River la}' a forest of interlacing 
pines and palmettos, carpeted with palm shrubs, cumbered 
by heavy logs and studded with the sharp, jagged rock that 
made the vicinage almost impassable. The men were sent 
charging through this forest, over a stretch of country so 
broken that no advance in line was possible. Tacticians 
witnessing these evolutions wondered at their purpose. To 
go scurrying helter-skelter at imminent danger of loss of 
life or limb, through a forest so wild that no battle save a 
sharp-shooters' engagement would have been possible in its 
confines, seemed of no avail. "It is to harden the men," 



Southern Martyrs. 181 

the explanation was made — to harden suffering soldiers for 
impossible situations and improbable tasks. 

Limbs were fractured. The stones cut the men's feet 
and tore their scant clothing. Private Henry Levinson, of 
Company C, suffered a compound fracture of the knee-cap ; 
Private J. F. Grove, of the same company, had his feet 
severely bruised and cut; Private E. R. Denton, of Com- 
pany B, was carried from the field unconscious. Then the 
regiment returned to the clearing in which close order 
movements were to be executed. Panting with fatigue, 
their parched tongues protruding from swollen lips, their 
faces livid and distorted with thirst, the men presented a 
pitiable spectacle. At least, they thought, there was respite 
for them in the approach of the water wagons. But an un- 
managed method of distributing the water left one battalion 
unprovided for when the regiment was recalled to atten- 
tion. The captain, first lieutenant and first sergeant of one 
of the companies of this battalion secured a filled canteen. 
In front of their company, every member of which was 
agonized by thirst, the trio drained the vessel. There were 
men in the ranks to whom a gulp of that water would have 
been medicinal — would have meant rescue from nights of 
throbbing fever. 

This was an example of the work done by and the care 
taken of the men at Miami. 

* * -x- * * * * 

Then came sickness and daily deaths. A change of drill 
hours was tried in the Second Brigade. A sleepless night 
and an empty stomach did not equip the men for the ordeal. 
Bathed in perspiration, they were plunged into the damp 
foliage, saturated with the peculiarly cold dew of the tropics. 
The sudden immersion sickened them. The miasmatic va- 
pors exhaled by the awaking plants quickened the work of 
disease and death. Recall was scheduled to sound at 8 a. 
m. It was frequently 9 o'clock and later when the men 



182 Soldier Slaves. 

reached camp. Then, many were too exhaused to eat their 
tardy and uninviting breakfast. 

Enervated, in despair and disgust, men fell into their tents 
reckless of what was to come. With glazed e3'es and pallid 
faces, they lay until the swirling sand and dust, blown 
across them in gossamer-like sheets, mingled with their 
perspiration in cakes of repulsive and health-killing filth. 
They lacked the energy to go to their meals; and baths 
were unavailable. The salt water of the Miami river did 
not clean them and the galliuippers made bathing un- 
pleasant. 

In such extremity, the men of the Second Alabama had 
added to their misery the humiliation of duress. The lines 
of other regiments were open ; not so, Colonel Cox's com- 
mand. Men were denied the solace of shad}' nooks in the 
neighboring woodlands. 

The}' had become sodden in their woes. Word of 
Cervera's undoing and the signal triumph of American arms 
over Spain convinced the division that its hardships were 
being suffered in vain. 

Disgust deepened. On Jul}' G a number of "kickers" 
in the Second Alabama succeeded in fanning into flame the 
regiment's disaffection. "The men want their pay," they 
announced. "We have been two months in the service, 
have cleared Flagler's land for him and we haven't received 
a cent." Word was secretly given that the men should re- 
fuse to respond to the drill call that afternoon. When the 
decisive moment came, half a dozen companies hesitated. 
But American reverence for constituted authority asserted 
itself, and, after a few moments of delay, the regiment went 
out to drill. 

The arrival of the Second Alabama's band instruments 
in early July and the receipt of the regiment's colors on 
July 10 afforded some diversion to Colonel Cox's men. On 
the latter day, the regimental battle-flag was unfurled with 



Southern Martyrs. 183 

fitting ceremony in front of the colonel's headquarters, the 
regiment drawn up in close order, standing uncovered, at 
attention. Colonel Cox opened the exercises with a brief 
address prefatory to the president's proclamation urging 
that thanks be given for the nation's recent victories. 
Chaplain Harte led in prayer and Rev. Dr. Neil Anderson, 
of Montgomery, then visiting Miami, spoke briefly. Arising 
after a short prayer, he concluded with a recitation of Rud- 
yard Kipling's Recessional. "To the colors" was sounded; 
and the battle-flag given by women of Mobile was formally 
installed in the quarters of the Second Alabama. 

Meanwhile, an entanglement over the battalion adjutants 
and the third majors of the Alabama regiments made it ap- 
pear doubtful that those ofiicers would ever be mustered. 
But Major Brandon made a vigorous fight and triumphed. 
He prepared an exhaustive brief covering the legal and 
technical features of his appointment. The proof thus pre- 
sented convinced the authorities at Washington of his right 
to his commission as a third major and he was mustered in 
at Miami, July 18. Major Brandon's case was the predicate 
on which battalion adjutants of both regiments established 
the validity of their commissions ; and all of them shortly 
afterward formally assumed their positions. But the bat- 
talion adjutants of the First Alabama having taken up 
their duties as soon as they were commissioned — May 
20 — afterward received pay from that date. 

The "unpaid Second " as Colonel Cox's regiment came to 
be known, found occasion for envy in the thriving canteen 
that contributed to the prosperity of Colonel Higdon's men. 
This canteen, established at Spring Hill in early June, had 
prospered very much. In Miami, its receipts were reliably 
reported to have aggregated as high as $500 on some days. 

But the pall of death hovered over Miami and men 
became sordid, dividing their attention between specu- 
lation as to the approach of pay day and the danger of 



184 Soldier Slaves. 

epidemic. They Lad already lost the spirit of agf^ressiveuess 
that one month before made them tingle at the thought of 
battle. 

An instance of the increase of suffering at Miami is given 
by the growth of the Second Alabama's sick list there. On 
June 30, when the regiment pitched camp, the sick list 
showed sixteen privates and no oflBcers. July 9 there were 
eighty-one privates and three officers sick ; July IG, ninety- 
two privates and six officers ; July 19, 165 privates and five 
officers. 

The paymaster came at a critical juncture. On July 20 
and 21, the First Division of the Seventh Army Corps was 
paid in full, the officers receiving the money due them from 
the dates of their commissions and being thus recompensed 
for all the active service they had rendered. 

The Second Alabama's first pay day was, of course, dis- 
quieting, but stringent regulations reduced the number of 
cases of disorder. It was at Miami, however, that the summary 
field courts, presided over in their respective regiments by 
Lieutenant Colonels McDonald and Thurston, tried a larger 
number of charges than during an equal period at any other 

camp. 

******* 

If General Keifer's command were at that time engaged in 
the most hazardous campaign, the men would not have been 
more deeply exercised over the prospect of peril. At Miami, 
they shuddered at danger of death in an unfurnished hos- 
pital from a miserable malady. The entire division was 
thoroughly alarmed. Demoralization followed. The ap- 
prehension that prevailed, humiliating in itself, and, lacking 
the thrill that is the invariable concomitant of the danger 
of conflict, only tended to steep the men deeper in despair. 
Exaggerated rumors contributed to the distraction. Re- 
ports of the most unreasonable character gained cuirency 
and credence. One night, men were confused by a widely 
circulated stor}- that Miami had been quarantined. 



Southern Martyrs. 1S5 

Au inexplicable censorship added to the difficulty of the 
situation. Newspaper correspondents were instructed that 
in addition to beinj]; prohibited from writing anything con- 
cerning movements of troops, they would not be permitted 
to send out any matter derogatory to the camp. "My in- 
structions," the censor said, "are to cut out anything calcu- 
lated to discourage recruits from enlisting." An American 
censor appointed to deceive American patriots so that tliey 
might volunteer to serve under the American flag! 

Finally, acknowledgment was made that the men had been 
worked beyond reason— the drills were reduced, practically 
abandoned. 

At such a time, word was received with unbounded joy 
that the authorities had at last listened to the storm of 
protest which went up from the entire South and — decided 
to rescue General Keifer's division from further decimation 
at Miami. But to remove the men to a new camp meant to 
acknowledge openly the injudiciousness of having sent them 
to Miami. A transfer to Jacksonville could be made on the 
ground that it was intended to mobilize the Seventh Army 
Corps at that point. On July 29, General Keifer received 
orders to hold his troops in readiness to move. The divi- 
sion became delirious with delight. Song services of 
praise were conducted that night in the Y. M. C. A. tent of 
the Second Alabama. Emissaries had been sent to the 
camps by various Southern executives to investigate and re- 
port on the horrors of Miami. Inspector General May and 
Adjutant General Jumel of the Louisiana National Guard 
organization were among those who reached there on such 
a mission. The rank and file jubilantly attributed to the 
influences of friends at home the order for their removal. 

In the camp of the Second Louisiana a bonfire was started. 
The entire division yelled itself hoarse, "We'll hang old 
Flagler to a sour apple tree," was taken up from company 
street to company street and echoed throughout the camp 



186 Soldier Slaves. 

in one mighty chorus by soldiers who blamed the million- 
aire owner of Miami for their hardships. 

The next day orders were received for General Keifer's 
men to move at once to Jacksonville. Captain Cole, the 
division quartermaster, declared that Mr. Flagler's agents 
were placing obstacles in the way of the troops' removal. 
He claimed that false reports were made of an inability to 
secure adequate rolling stock. His request to General 
Keifer for permission to seize a number of box cars then at 
Miami and load the men on them was seconded b}^ offers 
such as that of Major Brandon, of the Second Alabama, 
who told the major general that, if given license, he would 
undertake to move his battalion in the foUowing twenty- 
four hoars no matter what might be the attitude (jf the rail- 
roads. 

After some delay, the division reached Jacksonville, the 
Second Alabama leaving Miami on August 4 and arriving 
at Camp Cuba Libre — as Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's Corps 
quarters were known — on the next day. The First Alabama 
left Miami on August 1'2 and arrived in Jacksonville, 
August 13. Meanwhile, the latter regiment was notified — 
published report being made on August 3 — that, with the 
Second Texas, it would be detached from the Seventh Army 
Corps and sent to Porto Rico. This order, however, was 
never confirmed. Major Genei'al Miles afterward reporting 
that he required no reinforcements for his Porto llican 
campaign. 



CHAPTER XI. 



DlSAFFECTIOiN IN THE FIRS' 



"li/P^^^.N anomalous state of affairs developed at Jackson- 
%^vm? ville. Disaffection in the First Alabama p;ave to 
<^^i\^^ that regiment a retrograde tendency while con- 
fluent auspices lent to a wonderful improvement of Colonel 
Cox's command. The unpleasantness in the former body 
owed its origin to dissatisfaction on the part of a majority 
of the officers with the colonel, A series of disagreeable 
incidents started at Mobile when Captain Parkes and Lieu- 
tenant Going were notified of their arrest on the ostensible 
ground that they had displeased the colonel by failing to 
attend a social function at which he had requested all his 
officers to be present. Of course, nothing resulted from that 
affair. At Miami, Colonel Higdon and Chaplain Fitzsim- 
mons figuratively crossed swords, the forjnor peremptorily 
and, it was reported, with unwarranted surliness, refusing 
to give the latter a furlough. At that time Chaplain Fitz- 
simmons offered to leave the arbitrament of their differ- 
ences to a vote of the officers of the regiment. 

Friends of Colonel Higdon circulated the story that a 
number of his subalterns were banded together for the pur- 
pose of elevating Lieutenant Colonel McDonald to the col- 
onelcy. Conservative men declared that this story owed its 
origin only to the palpable fitness for command of Lieuten- 
ant Colonel McDonald. The open rupture of the entente 
cordiale between Colonel Higdon ' and the majority of his 
officers came after the regiment had encamped at Jackson- 
ville. He was accused of "prostituting his office to vent 



188 Disaffection in the First. 

personal spleen." A memorial was verbally presented to 
him requesting his resignation. It was an open secret that 
the field officers had been deputed to present this request. 

Colonel Higdon went to Birmingham on a furlough. The 
impression gained ground among the enlisted men 
that the colonel was seeking to have them mus- 
tered out and that a majority of the oflicers were 
endeavoring to thwart this purpose. When he 
returned from Birmingham, the rank and file gave 
him an enthusiastic reception while the oflicers remained 
in their tents, with but one or two exceptions. On August 
31, a number of the officers prepared a set of seven charges 
against the colonel of the First Alabama. The receipt two 
days later of word that the regiment was to be mustered 
out prompted these oflicers to drop tlie matter. At that time 
it was intended to veil the affair in obscurity but, subse- 
queutl}^ partial disclosure was matle of the circumstances 
that occurred in Jacksonville. 

After the regiment had returned to Birmingham, an 
inkling of the difficulty between Colonel Higdon and his 
followers gained publicity through the subjoined cards 
printed in the Age-Herald. Colonel Higdon was quoted as 
saying that he had sought to guard the interests of the 
men and this card was given out in contradiction : 
"Headquarters First Alabama 

"United States Volunteer Infantry, 
"Jacksonville, Fla., Sept. 1, 1898. 

"We, the undersigned officers of the First Alabama 
United States Volunteer Infantry, now on duty at Jackson- 
ville, Fla., do hereby state that at a meeting of the officers 
of this regiment, called on or about August 20, 1898, by 
Col. E. L. Higdon, commanding the regiment, for the pur- 
pose of considering the question as to whether the regi- 
ment wished to go intact with the Seventh Army Corps to 
Cuba or not, the question was asked Colonel Higdon 'if 
the men were to be consulted or not,' and we certify on 



Southern Martyrs. 189 

honor that he in substance replied : 'No ; they have noth- 
ing to do with it. If the officers go the men will have to 
go.' We are moved to make this statement because of the 
fact that both in private and publicly at the home head- 
quarters of the regiment, Birmingham, Ala., Colonel Hig- 
don has seen fit to produce the impression that factions 
exist among the officers of the regiment, brought about by 
the colonel's attitude being favorable to the men, when, in 
fact, as above stated, he refused to allow them a voice. 
(Signed) 
"J. B. McDonald, lieutenant colonel ; Tom Smith, major. 
First Battalion ; O. Kyle, major. Third Battalion ; O. P. 
Fitzsitnons, captain and chaplain ; A. Harrison, captain. 
Company I ; Thomas Hardeman, first lieutenant. Company 
M ; 13. K. Field, first lieutenant, Company D ; H. C. Laugh- 
lin, captain, Company F; M. N. Pride, first lieutenant. 
Company E ; Lawrence E. Brown, first lieutenant and ad- 
jutant, Third Battalion ; R. B. Going, first lieutenant, Com- 
pany G ; Tom B. Cooper, first lieutenant, Company I ; 
Henry T. Dean, second lieutenant, Company K ; W. J. 
Parkes, cu^jtain. Company A ; R. G. Mallett, second lieuten- 
ant. Company M ; Thomas T. Huey, captain. Company H ; 
E. D. Johnston, first lieutenant, Company K ; Leon Schwarz, 
first lieutenant and adjutant, First Battalion ; Robert L. 
Brown, first lieutenant. Company B ; W. E. Wallace, '^-aptain. 
Company E ; W. M. Martin, captain, Company B ; N. G. 
Canning, captain, Company E ; Thomas M. Hooper, second 
lieutenant. Company F ; William A. Hasson, second lieuten- 
ant. Company C; N. D. Lacy, first lieutenant. Company L ; 
R. M. Fletc'er, Jr., first lieutenant and assistant surgeon ; 
C. L. Ledbetter, captain. Company K; W. J. Webb, second 
lieutenant, Company E." 

The foregoing statement was printed September 20, 1898. 
Then followed a rejoinder from Colonel Higdou accompa- 
nied by a statement from J. W. Moore, an enlisted man who 
filled a clerical position at the regimental headquarters. 
Some comment was caused by the fact that the enlisted 
man's letter was better written than the colonel's. Here is 
Colonel Higdon's defense : 



100 DiSAFFECTIOM IN THE FiRST. 

"Camp Falkner, East Lake, Sept. 20, 1898. 

" In reference to the statement made by some of the offi- 
cers of the First ALabama in TJie Age-Herald this morniuf^, 
I have this to say: In the first place I think it was very 
unkind in the officers to have such a statement printed at 
the present time, while I am so unwell as not to feel able to 
make a full statement of the facts. 

" If the officers intended doinjr me justice they would have 
stated all the facts in that meeting;. I called the officers 
together and made the statement that I had done so in 
order that I mi<)|;ht know the sentiment in reference, to izoinir 
to Cuba as a regiment; that I wanted them to consult with 
the men and see how many desired to go. Some one of the 
officers spoke up and said it was not necessary to consult 
the men, but moved to take a vote then. At this point some 
one asked the question, ' if the men would have anything 
to say if this regiment was ordered to Cuba? ' and I made 
the remark, * that if ordered, they would all have to go ; 
that no one would have any voice in the matter. ' My in- 
tention was to convey the impression that the officers and 
men would have to go if ordered by the War Department. 
Some officers in the Third Battalion at this point spoke up 
and said they thought it best to postpone the meeting until 
they could consult the men, and I made the statement then 
and there that I thought the suggestion a good one, and 
tried to get them to adopt this plan, but the majority wanted 
to take a vote at this time, which I allowed them to do, and 
all the officers voted to go. 

" The day peace was declared I went on record at that 
time in a conversation with Lieutenant Colonel McDonald, 
which I do not think he will den}^ that I was now heartily 
in favor of all members of the First Alabama, who had left 
good positions and who had family ties that required their 
presence at home now that the war was over being allowed 
to return to their homes, and gfter the War Department made 



Southern Martyrs. 191 

the aunouDcement that the wishes of the meu should be 
consulted, and after finding that a large majority wanted to 
return home, I did everything in my power to see that the 
wishes of the enlisted men were granted. 

"My action toward the men before this meeting and after- 
wards speaks for itself, and I ask you to talk with them, as 
they can give you a full history of all the unpleasantness I 
have had with the officers and I think they will tell you 
that I have at all times tried to do what I thought was to 
the best interests of the regiment, and my action towards 
the meu at all times is within itself sufficient to denounce 
as absolutely false the statement made in the headlines of 
your paper this morning that I would not allow the men in 
my regiment a voice in the matter. I have respected their 
wishes, and now feel proud to refer you to these 1,300 men, 
who feel themselves treated justly by me and who will sup- 
port and substantiate my statements. 

(Signed) "E. L. Higdon. " 



J. W. Moore enlisted in Company K but his service at 
the regimental headquarters enabled him to learn a great 
many official secrets. Colonel Higdon therefore considered 
Moore a competent witness and the following letter from 
him was printed below the colonel's statement : 

" On the day that Lieutenant Colonel McDonald asked 
the men for their sentiment in regard to going to Cuba I 
was sitting at my desk in the adjutant's office when some 
one came in and told me that the colonel had the regiment 
in line at the head of the company streets, and was going 
to take a vote on the question which at that time was ab- 
sorbing the attention of both officers and enlisted men. I 
left the tent and went to where the men were forming in 
line. When the colonel first asked the opinion of the men 
I was too far away to hear the exact words in which the 
question was put, but ^did note that^not_a man inthe regi- 



192 Disaffection in the First. 

ment moved. Then again he repeated the question and I 
caught it, which was, 'All who want to do their duty, and 
go willingly to Cuba, if ordered, step three paces to the 
front. ' This caused a move in the lines, and some went to 
the front. Company M, that stood directly in front of the 
colonel, only nine men walked out, all the balance of the 
company standing in their places like statues. In Company 
F, twelve men went to the front. I counted as fast as I 
cculd and although I could not verify the correctness of the 
count, yet am sure that I could not have been more than 
fifty out of the way in my count of 250 men who stepped to 
the front. The expression which came over the face of Col- 
onel McDonald was undoubtedly one of disappointment, as 
he made no announcement at all at that time, as to the re- 
sult of the vote, but told the men t<^ get to their places in 
rank and marched them off to drill. It was late when they 
returned to cam]) that evening, cousecjucMitly was after dark 
before the officers got their supper. But immediately after 
supper the colonel came into the office aud asked me if any 
one had brought in any reports for him. I told him no, 
but at the same time Lieutenant Hooper, of Company F, 
came into the tent and when asked by Lieutenant Colonel 
McDonald how he found his men, he replied that he found 
40 to 22 in favor of going to Cuba. This company, it will 
be remembered, sent but twelve men to the front in response 
to the vote taken by the colonel that afternoon. 

"At this time Lieutenant Johnston, of Company K, came 
into the tent aud in the presence of Colonel McDonald, 
Lieutenant Schwarz and Lieutenant Hooper, asked me how 
I stood on this matter, and I answered that like the ma- 
jority of the men I wanted to go home. Aud inferring from 
the remark made by Colonel McDonald to Lieutenant 
Hooper, I inferred that the officers had been instructed to 
canvass the streets in quest of the votes of the men who 
were not in line at the time the vote was taken, aud upon 



Southern Martyrs. 193 

this supposition I asked Lieutenant Johnston if he had can- 
vassed Company K, and he answered yes, and that he found 
five to two in favor of going to Cuba. 

"I felt sure that he was making a false statement, and de- 
termined there and then to investigate the matter and see 
that Company K, of which I am a member, got justice. So 
I forthwith went down to the street and asked some of the 
men who were in the kitchen if they had been given a 
chance to vote, and they said no, and also asserted that 
there were many others who had not even been given a 
chance to vote. I told them to get together, and I in the 
meantime would secure an audience with the captain and 
see if our rights cannot be respected. The captain very 
politely allowed us an interview, and I called to the men to 
come up, and they came and quickly gathered about the 
captain's tent. I asked the captain to explain to the men 
the object of the vote taken to-day, and what was to be ac- 
complished thereby, in answer to which he said that the 
vote simply meant nothing only to gain for the War Depart- 
ment the general sentiment that prevailed among the men 
in regard to going to Cuba. I asked him if the vote taken 
to-day was going to cut any figure in our going or not, and 
was told by him that it would not. Then I asked why so 
much interest was being taken by the officers in the affair 
if the vote was so insignificant. To this we could only 
get the very unsatisfactory reply that our vote was not to 
be taken into consideration, and that they just wanted a 
sentiment of the men. Then I asked if this vote was to get 
the sentiment of the men, why would it not be better to get 
the true sentiment instead of a false one, which could have 
been made up without bothering the men at all. He of 
course claimed ignorance of any false reports being made, 
and I have no reason for accusing him of any knowledge 
thereof; but in the presence of all the men I told the cap- 
tain about the report brought in by Lieutenant Hooper of 
13 



194 Disaffection in the First. 

Company F when our men were praising this company for 
their loyalt}' to the men. I also told him about Lieutenant 
Johnston giving in a report that after thoroughly canvassing 
Company K, he found five to two of those who were not in 
line in favor of going to Cuba, and told him to look around 
him and he would see seventeen men, besides myself, who 
had not been allowed to vote at all, all of whom were in 
favor of going home, and that if our vote did not turn out 
to be of interest to us, he must bear in mind that Company 
K was not fairly represented, and that eighteen men were 
not allowed a voice in the affair. He promised to see to it 
himself that our vote would be taken into consideration 
and would report it himself, which would represent Com- 
pany K as having 48 to 31 in favor of going home. I dis- 
missed the men and went back to my office, determined to 
see if Captain Ledbetter would fulfill his promise to the 
men and have our vote recorded; but it was fully an hour 
after the report had been formed and taken to town by 
Lieutenants Schwarz, Fletcher and Johnston that Captain 
Ledbetter came to headquarters, and I knew we had been 
entirely shut out. 

"J. W. Moore. 
"September 20, 1898." 

The following day Moore printed a card abjectly de- 
claring that he had intended to cast no reflection in his 
letter on the honor, honesty or fairness of Lieut. E. D. 
Johnston. 



CHAPTEE XII. 



RETURNING TO CIVILIAN LIFE. 



^HERE was abundant reason for felicity at Jackson- 
Wj^^ ^i^^® amon^ the two Alabama regiments. Of course, 
a keen solicitude prevailed concerning the Ala- 
bamians left in the division hospital at Miami, fully 100 of 
them having been too ill to make the trip with their com- 
rades. But of the sick who were able to travel, a majority 
at once made rapid strides toward robustness at Camp Cuba 
Libre. Orders were issued, however, to send all convales- 
cents to Pablo Beach, eighteen miles from Jacksonville. 
Inadequate arrangements at that place occasioned consider- 
able discomfort to the men sent there. Afterward, report 
was made officially that the deaths of Anthony Sammereier 
and E. E. James, both of Company B, Second Alabama, 
were largely due to neglect. 

But the "present for duty" men of the entire First Divi- 
sion of the Seventh Army Corps regained health, strength 
and vitality at Jacksonville with remarkable readiness. 
Discipline became easier of accomplishment. Officers found 
that sound men are much more tractable than invalids, 
querulous with exhaustion or fever. 

The First Division's quarters — in Fairfield, a suburb of 
Jacksonville — were picturesque and attractive. But it was 
in Camp Cuba Libre, that the men of the Second learned 
to understand the real extent of their colonel's overzealous- 
ness. They were denied the liberties allowed other regi 
ments and discontent was not slow in brewing. The lines 
of other regiments were open, but members of Colonel Cox's 
command were allowed to leave camp only on written passes; 



196 Ketuening to Civilian Life. 

and these passes were limited. Yet, with the felicitous 
adaptabilit}' of Amerieaus, the meu adjusted themselves to 
the situation, thouf^h losing none of their eagerness "to 
fight or go home." The Second Alabama was encamped on 
the west bank of tiie St. John's river, half a mile from the 
First Alabama. A description of the Alabamians' quarters, 
printed at that time, said : 

"Visitors peeping into any of the tents are surprised at 
the orderly array of domestic utensils. Shoe brushes, 
towels, mirrors, shaving mugs and racks of every conceiv- 
able nature have been fitted into the tents uutil the camps 
have assumed the comj)lexion of a city of canvas cottages. 
Throughout the regiments a settled sense of location has 
turned the soldiers' inclinations toward the diversions that 

attracted them at home." 

* . * # * * * ♦ 

It was then that the officers of the Socoud Ala\)aina, under 
the guidance of Lieutenant Colonel Thurston, succeeded in 
writing the name of their regiment across the pages of the 
nation's history. There was no longer any prospect of 
winning glory in the clash of battle; tlie glamour and pomp 
of actual war had already fled and only the sobering quiet 
of an armistice remained, but the Second Alabama volun- 
teered to relieve the government of possible embarrassment 
by plunging itself into the yellow fever-swept district of 
Santiago de Cuba. The victorious Americans then sta- 
tioned there were eager to return home. Depleted in num- 
bers by bullets and disease and debilitated by the torrid 
climate, they showed ample excuse for a desire to return 
northward. But no other troops were eager to replace 
them. "To fight Spaniards is one thing, but to fight yellow 
fever is another," volunteers said. At that juncture— on 
August 9 — a meeting of the officers of the Second Alabama 
was held and it was unanimously agreed to forward to 
Adjutant General Corbin a telegram in eflfect as follows : 



SouTHEKN Martyrs. 197 

We, the undersigned officers of the Second Alabama Volunteer In- 
fantry, with a majority of our command, hereby volunteer to relieve 
the troops now in the yellow fever-stricken district of Santiago de 
Cuba. AVe are from Mobile and Southern Alabama generally, and 
are about as nearly immune as any regiment in the service. 

Lieutenant Colonel Thurston and Capt. W, J. Yaiden 
prevailed on Brigadier General Gordon to indorse on the 
communication his approval. He voluntarily attached the 
sentence, "With regret at the prospect of losing so good a 
regiment." Then Captain Vaiden was deputed to carry the 
message to Major General Lee. That officer urged the 
withdravs^al of the offer. He argued that the regiment was 
destined to leave for Cuba as part of his command within a 
few weeks and that it would be unwise to interfere with 
such plans as had already been made concerning the Sec- 
ond Alabama. The request for transfer to Santiago was 

withdrawn in deference to Major General Lee's wishes. 
******* 

Deep anxiety was occasioned by the uncertainty of the 
War Department's plans regarding the volunteers. Major 
General Lee's assertion led the Alabamians to believe they 
would go to Cuba under his command. A large element 
were reluctant to experience garrison life. They had en- 
listed as volunteers to fight, not as "regulars to soldier." 
But the prospect of foreign service lent interest to affairs 
military. The drills — half as long as and during more 
reasonable hours than those at Miami — were gone through 
with a snap and zest. Curiosity was felt as to the scores made 
at the target range at Cocoa-nut Grove, six miles from 
Miami, whither the First Alabama and the Second Battal- 
ion of the Second had gone for practice during the encamp- 
ment on Mr. Flagler's land. 

Still, publication of intelligence that 100,000 volunteers 
were to be mustered out created a furore among the Ala- 
bamians. Word that the men would be permitted to ex- 
press their wishes with relation to their term of service led 
a number to formulate petitions for discharge. There were 



198 Keturning to Civilian Lite. 

some few enlisted meu wlio, eager to do dut}- ou foreign 
soil before retnruiug home, felt disposed to continue in the 
volunteer army. But these numbered less than fifteen per 
cent, on August 15, 1898. Some of them were hopeful that 
they might find opportunities for unusual profit in Cuba or 
Porto Rico and that their service as garrison troops would 
end before another year passed. Fully eighty-five per 
cent, of the enlisted meu from Alabama waited with pain- 
ful anxiety for news that they were to be discharged. Or- 
ders were issued in the Second that any movement in the 
direction of an organized efi'ort to be mustered out would 
meet with })unishment. 

It was at that juncture that Sergt. R. E. Austill, of Com- 
pany C, Second Alabama, persisted in circulating a petition 
requesting the discharge from service of his regiment. Ser- 
geant Austill had, through manifestations of a marked in- 
dividuality, won considerable prominence among the en- 
listed men. His jietition was being numerously signed 
when Captain Rcjbinson, under the colonel's instructions, 
placed him in arrest. The following letter from Austill's 
father, jiublished in the Mobile Ittyisfcr, reflects the condi- 
tion of sentiment at that time : 

"It was not my intention to take any further notice of the 
arrest of my son and the taking of his sergeant's stripes 
from his coat, by order of Col. Jim Wade C(jx, of the Sec- 
ond Alabama Volunteers, at Jacksonville, but proof has 
come to me from every direction that the officers of our 
volunteer regiments have not only ignored the privates, but 
in many instances have punished them for daring to express 
their wishes or to sign petitions to be mustered out. 

"As the privates are not allowed to speak for themselves, 
some of us who are not liable to be punished and reduced 
to ranks by officers, should speak for them through the pub- 
lic press. Does not this course of the officers lay them 
open to the suspicion that, because they get good salaries 
and have an opportunity for promotion and have compara- 
tively an easy time, they are disposed to take advantage of 
the enlisted men and keep them in service after the war is 



Southern Martyrs. 199 

over ? As the officers have not allowed the privates to sign 
petitions representing their wishes, how can they safelv say 
a majority of the men want to remain in service? The of- 
ficers of the First Alabama Volunteers had a meeting on 
the 24th instant and resolved that the 'statement that a 
majority of the enlisted men antagonize further service is 
absolutely false.' They passed this resolution without call- 
ing on the men to vote. And yet, it seems that on that day 
850 men of that regiment had signed petitions asking to be 
discharged. When it was made known that the govern- 
ment would muster out a large number of volunteers and 
would give preference to those who wanted to be dis- 
charged, the privates had just as much right as the officers 
to be heard and our colonels should have given them a 
chance and eacli private should have had one vote and each 
officer one. Remember, we are considering the rights of 
volunteers who voluoteered to fight for their country, not 
to enlist as regular soldiers. The war being over, they have 
a moral right to be released, and I cannot see that any dis- 
grace is to be put upon a private volunteer who woald now 
prefer to return to his peaceful pursuits. With volunteers 

Rank is but the guinea stamp, 
The man's the man for a' that. 

"I will not consider my son disgraced because Colonel 
Jim Wade Cox took off his sergeant's stripes. I am glad 
when he was arrested by Captain Ed Robinson that he had 
the manliness to tear off the signatures to the paper, except 
his own, before giving it to the captain, and that he did not 
seek to hide behind a round robin or to drag others into 
trouble. His punishment, however, is a punishment of 
every volunteer who dared to sign a petition and I very 
much doubt the necessity or wisdom of such a step. 

"God bless the volunteers! They made this country free 
and great and will keep it so if treated with that considera- 
tion to which they are entitled. 

"It is to be feared that the association of our volunteer 
officers with the regular army officers has put an idea in 
their heads that enlisted men have no rights. Lieutenant 
Colonel Thurston, of the Second Alabama Volunteers, is a 
lieutenant, I am, told, in the regular army and, if report is 
true, he is now in Washington seeking to keep the Second 
Alabama Volunteers in service. Is it to be supposed that 



200 Returning to Civilian Life. 

he has either consulted tlie wishes of the i)rivates or that 
he cares a fig what they thiuk ? His positiou remiuils oue 
of the Hues we read iu Quackeuboss : 

And tliou, Dalhousie, thou great Gixl of War. 
Lieutenant-Colonel to the Karl of Marr. 

"I hope the governor of our state will have an oppor- 
tunity to muster out both the First and Second Alabama 
Voluuteers and let our men and othcors — r»Mluced to ranks — 
all come home and help to build u|) our great state. The 
Third Regiment w.iuts to go to Cuba and it should be 
gratified. 

"H. AUSTILL. 

"Mobile, August 27, 1898." 

Influences of every description were brought to bear in 
the fight V)otween the friends of the officers to ('(Uitinuo the 
regiments in service and the irieuds of the enlisted men to 
have them mustered out. Considerable acrimony entered 
into the struggle. Word that Lieutenant Colonel Thurston 
had gone to Washington was wired home by enlisted men ; 
and Congressman H. D. Clayton hastened to the national 
capital to ])lead for the volunteers who desired their dis- 
charge. It was during that period that Maj. W. W. Bran- 
don, of the Second Alabama, endeared himself to the rank 
and file of both regiments. Going to Montgomery, he set 
forth to Governor Johnston in eloquent terms the cause of 
Alabama's s')ldiers who had sutiered their full share and 
were entitled to resume their peaceful vocations. Then, 
returning to Camp Cuba Libre, he was assigned to con- 
duct the Second Alabama's summar}' court, in the absence 
of Lieutenant Colonel Thurston, but discreetly contrived 
during this time to advise the men as to the proper course 
for them to pursue. Their gratitude led them into sev- 
eral situations embarrassing to the major. One evening 
the men of the Second broke through the guard lines and, 
surrounding Major Brandon's tent, cheered him till they 
were hoarse. He advised them to return to their quarters 
and remain dutiful. At that moment Colonel Cox ordered 



Southern Martyrs. 201 

the assembly call blown so that quiet might be restored. 
The men went trooping back good-naturedly to their com- 
pany streets. 

Governor Johnston had already wired Colonel Cox to 
take the sense of his regiment concerning continued service. 
The colonel protested that such a course was in violation of 
military ethics. He made applicatioa for permission to 
comply with the governor's request but it was denied at di- 
vision headquarters. Nevertheless, through the energy and 
tactfulness of Major Brandon, Governor Johnston was fully 
acquainted with the men's wishes and, at the invitation of 
the War Department, he recommended that Alabama's 

white volunteers be released from service. 

* * * * -x- * * 

August 14, the Alabama regiments received their wages 
for July. 

Proof of the excellent military material in the rank and 
file and of the indifferent administration of the two regi- 
ments became apparent in Jacksonville, also. As late as 
September 1, it was necessary to issue a general order in 
the Second Alabama acquainting officers with a regulation 
they ought to have known long before — that company com- 
manders should be promptly notified of the confinement in 
the guardhouse of any of their men. Before that, at Miami, 
this general order was issued : 

Officers confining enlisted men will prefer charges promptly where 
the offense is of a sufficiently serious character to warrant. 

The commanding officer regrets to note dilatoriiiess of officers in 
this respect, which tends only to create contempt for the only means 
of discipline. 

Despite this order, a non-commissioued officer of the 
Second Alabama was held in confinameut — part of the time 
in the guardhouse — from July 29 to August 24 without 
trial. The commanding officer was himself responsible for 
the man's arrest. The prisoner was finally released on his 
captain's representation that in military law there was no 
warrant for holding a prisoner more than eight days without 
trial. 

On August 31, 1898, the Seventh Army Corps paraded 



202 Keturning to CI^^LIAN Life. 

througli the streets of Jacksonville in celebration of tlie 
nation's victory ; and no command in that body of 80,000 
men presented a better appearance than the two Alabama 
regiments. Indeed, it was f^enerjiUy conceded that the 
Second Alal)ama made a showintr second to no other regi- 
ment in the Corps. 

Brigadier General W. W. Gordon was relieved of his com- 
mand to act as a member of the Porto Rican evacuation 
commission ; and his brigade wtis taken charge of by Col. 
L. M. Oppeuheimer of the Second Texas. Before his de- 
parture, General Gordon was presented with a handsome 
gold watch by the otHcers of his brigadt^ ; and in his speech 
of thanks, he made reference to Huch "exactions as he may 
have im|)osed," exi)hiining that he had always been eager 
to harden his command for the exigencies of active service. 

On September 2, word was received at Jacksonville that 
Governor Johnston's recommendation for the muster out of 
the two Alabama regiments had been favorably acted on ; 
and the enlisted men were overjoyed. 

It was ordered that so soon as the preliminarv arrange- 
ments coukl \)e completed, the two commands should be 
taken back to Alabama and released on thirty days' fur- 
lough, after which they should reassemble for muster out. 
The lieutenant colonels were appointed mustering officers 
for their respective regiments, but subsequently Lieutenant 
Colonel McDonald was named chief mustering officer — 
Lieutenant Colonel Thurston being relieved — with Capt. 
M. O. Mollis as his assistant for the Second and Lieut. G. 
W. YanDeusen, adjutant of the First Artillery, U. S. A., his 
assistant for the First Regiment. 

But there remained a great deal of clerical work to do at 
Jacksonville. The transfers, made at Mobile to expedite the 
muster in of companies, had been set straight at Miami — 
by the First Alabama on its arrival there and by the Sec( nd 
after its first pay day — the names of the transferred men being 
finally installed on the rolls of the commands with which 
they originally volunteered. This fact complicated and in- 
creased the clerical work required on the muster out rolls. 
None of the men had been fully equipped and few received 
more than half of the regular allowance of clothing. Their 
accounts had to be reckoned and full report made of the 
ordnance issued. Afterward, it developed that on their dis- 
charge, the average payment to the privates was $76, di- 



Southern Martyrs. 203 

vided as follows : Wages for September and October, $31.20; 
balance due on clothing account, $30 ; commutation of 
rations during furlough, $7.50 ; travel fare to place of en- 
listment, $7.50. 

Both regiments were ordered to muster out at Mobile. 
But representation was made that most of the men of the 
First Alabama lived in the vicinity of Birmingham and that 
it would be more convenient to release them there. Colonel 
Higdon's regiment was then instructed to proceed to East 
Lake, Ala., for disbandment. Meanwhile, citizens of Mont- 
gomery succeeded in having the War Department also 
change its orders concerning the Second Alabama, Colonel 
Cox's command being instructed in the end to muster out 
at the state capital. 

Finally, on September 16, both regiments left Jackson- 
ville, Fla., for Alabama. The men expected a hearty wel- 
come on their return home and, indeed, a number of en- 
thusiastic receptions were accorded them en route. But 
Montgomery, which was reached early on September 17, 
disappointed the home-coming soldiers. No organized 
effort had been made to receive them. No committee met 
them at the depot to tell them they were welcome. Maj. 
Tom O. Smith's battalion of the First Alabama marched 
through the city and a crowd followed them back to the 
union station. The Second Alabama was chagrined that 
Montgomery, after having wrested the regiment's camp site 
from Mobile, did not ndanifest any appreciation of its suc- 
cess. 

The First Alabama proceeded to East Lake, the city of 
Birmingham giving the regiment a magnificent reception. 
Thousands of persons lined the streets, cheering and shout- 
ing. Flowers and bunting were profusely employed for 
decorations ; an abundance of lunches was provided for the 
soldiers ; and the returning regiment was ov^jrwhelmed with 
cordial hospitality. The men were taken on the street cars 
to East Lake where the camp was pitched and named in 
honor of Col. J. M. Falkner. 

The Second Kegimeut was switched over the railroad to 
Eiverside Park, in Montgomery, where the men quietly 
pitched their tents in an unpromising tract adjoining the 
Fair Grounds. The camp was named in honor of Alabama's 
ex-Secretary of the Navy, Hilary A. Herbert. A bfirbecue 
had been arranged for the regiment by citizens of Mont- 



204 Eeturning to Civilian Life. 

f^omery to take ])Iace on Septoinber 21. But the autliorities 
established a quaiautiue statiou iuside the space alhited 
to Colouel Cox's commaud and protest was made that the 
stoppaf^e, in such ch>se proximity to the sohliers, of trains 
from tlie infected yeUow fever districts, was a serious 
menace to the men's healtli. Indeed, Major Pu{^h advised 
that the trains be forced to move on. But the municipal 
authorites declined to alter the situation. The relationship 
between the regiment and the city thus became strained; 
and Colouel Cox, with some austerity, seat word to the cit- 
izens that his men would neither parade nor attend the 
scheduhnl barbecu<\ 

Tiie work of releasing the regiment on furlough was 
hastcMied. Th(3 nrilnauce was turned in to Cai)t. M. O. 
Hollis and on September lO, tlie men were paid their 
August wagt's and alh»\ved to leave on thirty diiys' fur- 
lough. Captain \\. .1. Vaiden remained in charge of the 
camp with more than 100 men who volunteered from differ- 
ent companies to forego their furloughs. The Second Ala- 
bama was ordered to return to Camp Hilarv A. Herbert ou 
October i'J. 

The First Alabama was ])aid its August wages on Sep- 
tember 19 and released on furlough on the following day, 
under instructions to report back ou October 20. Adjutant 
L. C. Brown assumed charge of Camp Falkner and the men 
who remained tiiere during the thirty ilays. But the First 
Alabama did not surreiuh'r its ordnance at that time. 

Both regiments reassembled ]n-t)mptly ou the iLiys re- 
spectively ajipoiuted. In the interim, however, tlie malig- 
nance of the yellow fever epidemic in L)uisiaua and Missis- 
sippi and the consequent menace to Alabama formed the 
basis of a request to the War Department that an additional 
furlough of thirty days be granted to both regiments, the 
men to be notified of the extension of their leaves without 
returning to camp. But the War Department ordered that 
both commands be mustered out as s(ion as the processes 
could be gone thrcnigh. while those men who happened to 
be in the quarantined district were excused from returning 
to their companies. Arrangements were made to forward 
to these few abseutees their discharge papers and the money 
due them from the government. 

Colonel Higdou arranged a sham battle for his commaud 
at East Lake for the benedt of the Sisters of Charity and 



Southern Martyrs. 205 

Hillman Hospital of Birmingham. The affair took place 
on October 22. Major McLeod and six companies, assisted 
by Battery B of Montgomery, attempted to hold a hill 
against Major Smith with six companies. Of course, the 
assaulting party triumphed and planted its colors on the 
crest of the hill after an exciting exhibition. 

On October 2^, the First Alabama turned in its ordnance 
to Lieutenant Van Deusen and the physical examinations 
for muster out were expeditiously prosecuted in both regi- 
ments under the direction of Major S. S. Pugh at East Lake 
and of INIajor Flagg, U. S. A., at Montgomery. Colonel 
Higdon's regiment was on parole during this period but 
guard lines were placed around Colonel Cox's command. 

Lieutenant Colonel McDonald went to Atlanta and ar- 
ranged for a sufficient number of paymasters to pay the 
men as soon as the work preliminary to muster out was 
finished. The discharge papers were dated October 31, 
1898 and payments were made to that date. 

Thus, the state's white volunteers returned to civilian 
life after just six mouths of army service fraught with suf- 
fering and privation but, withal, evidencing the patriotism 
and loyalty and the magnificent manhood of imperial 
Alabama. 



INDEX. 



I'AGK. 

Argument 7.12 

Dkath Roll — 

First Alabama (see addenda) 13 

Second Alabama Regiment (see addenda) 14 

Causes of Death 15 

Men or thk First Alabama — 

r'ield and StafT Officers 18 

Comi)aiiy K (Hirniingbam Rifles) 17-19 

1., 'Ihiey «Tnards) 20-22 

A ( Woodiawn Light Infantry) 23-25 

G (JelTerson Volunteers) 26-28 

H (Bessemer RiHes) 29-30 

D (Anniston Rifles) 31-32 

M (Clark Rilles or Bowie Volunteers) 33-38 

I (Oxford or Calhoun Rifles) 37-3S 

C (Ktowali Killes) 39-40 

E (Jiie Johnston Rifles) 41-43 

F ( Iliintsville Killes) 44-46 

R ( Wheeler Rilles) .'.".■;..' 47.49 

Regimental Band 60-51 

Mbn of tiik Skcond Alabama — 

Field and Stall Otiicers 50 

Company A ( Montgomery (ireys) 53-56 

L ( I'hoeiiix City b'itles) 56-58 

F ( Warrior (Tiiards ) 59-62 

1) (>Jontgomery True Blues) 63-65 

K (Culf City Cuards) '16-68 

M ( Mobile Cadets) 69-71 

B (Lomax RiHes) 72-74 

C ( Mobile Rille Company) 75-77 

H (Troy Killes) 78-79 

I (Jackson County Volunteers) 80-83 

G (Kufaula Killes). (see addenda ) 84-85 

K (" Vaiden's Rough Walkers"; 86-88 

Regimental Band 89-90 

Chai'tek I. Assembling at thk State Rendezvous— 

Women Retard Kecruiting 9I 

National (niard Organization 91-92 

Appointment Lieutenant Colonels 93 

Volunteers Leave Birmingham 93-94 

Selection State Rendezvous 95 

Separate Companies Report for Duty 95 

Routine of Calls qq 

Camp Louis V. Clark 95 

Board of Examiners (120) 97 

Sergeant Collins killed 9g 

Small-pox Prevented Qf^ 

Second Regiment's Commander Chosen 98 

Colonel Cox Names Camp Johnston 99 

Chapter II. Soirces of Incompetence — 

National Guard Inefficiency 100-108 

Unjust Selection of Officers 100-108 



INDEX. 207 

Illegal Commissions 101-102 

Merit not Title to Office 100-108 

Militia Untrained 100 ; 103-104 

Orders Ignored 105-106 

Guard Duty Misinterpreted 105-106 

First Superior to Second Alabama 106-107 

Lieutenant Colonel McDonald 106-107 

No Warrants Issued Second's Non-Coms 107-108 

Chapter III. Camps Clark and Johnston — 

Change Alabama Women's Attitude 109 

Presentation First Alabama's Colors 109-112 

" Camp Life in a Nutshell." 112-113 

Volunteers Poorly Fed and Supplied . .(120). . 114 

Early Camp Jubilance 114 

Officers Responsible for Poor Food 115-116 

Lack of Discipline 117-118 

Faithfulness Wins Hardship 117 

Desertions Before Muster In 118 

Chapter IV. Recruiting the Regiments — 

Magnificent Military Material 119 

Grief of Rejected Volunteers 119-120 

First Companies to Muster. 121-122 

Difficulty of Obtaining Recruits 122-125 

Transfer Scheme Employed 123-124 

First Alabama Studies the "'Regulars" 126 

Difference in Regiments' Police Systems 126-127 

Food Contributions 127 

Chapter V. Mustering In — 

Captain Barr Describes Camp Conditions 128-129 

First Religious Services in Camp 129 

Y. M. C. A. Tents 129-130 

Volunteers Libeled 130 

Ladies' Soldiers' Relief Ass'n— Mrs. H. E.Jones, (153-154) 130-131 

First Dress Parade 131 

First's Companies Assigned to Battalions 132 

Payment of Volunteers 133 

First Alabama Mustered 134 

AdditionalMajors and Battalion Adjutants (183) 134;134 

First Alabama Goes to Spring Hill 135 

Second Alabama Mustered 136 

Chapter VI. At Spring Hill — 

Physical Excellence of Alabama Volunteers 137 

Raising the Regimental Quota 137-138 

Recruiting Officers and Agents 138 

Second Alabama goes to Spring Hill 139-140 

Orders to Mount Vernon Issued and Revoked 141 

Alabamians in the Fourth Army Corps 134 ; 139 ; 141 

Equipments 142 

Orders to Miami 143 

First Alabama's First Pay Day 143 

Soldiers' Saturnalia 143-145 

First Alabama Leaves for Miami 144 

Chapter VIII — From Mobile to Miami — 

Presentation Second Alabama's Colors 146-149 

Confined to Camp 149-150 



208 INDEX. 

Farewell Scenes at Spring Hill 151-153 

Immune to Yellow Fever 151 

Ball Cartridges Issued 151 

Absurd Railroad Arrangements 151-152 

Incidents en route to Miami 154-155 

Arrival in Miami 155 

Chapter VIII. AViiat Civilians Saw — 

Alabamians Transferred to Seventh Army Corps 156 

John S- Kendall's Description of Miami 156-158 

C. Arthur Williams' View of Miami 158-163 

Chapter IX. Hospital Horrors — 
Surgeons' Views of Miami 164-176 

Chapter X. Soldier Slaves — 

Mr. Flagler's Offer 177 

Horrors of the Miami Camp 178-185 

Censorship 185 

"Unpaid Second" 182-183 

First Alabama's Canteen 183 

Second's Colors and Band Instruments 182-183 

Passes Denied 182 

Orders to Jacksonville 185-186 

Departure for Jacksonville 186 

Chapter XI. Disaffection in the First — 

Officers Dissatisfied with Their Colonel 187-188 

Statement Printed by Officers 188-189 

Colonel Higdon's Rejoinder 190-191 

Private Moore's Defense of His Colonel 191-194 

Chapter XII. Returning to Civilian Life — 

Alabamians Recover Robustness •. 195 

Second Offers to Brave Yellow Fever 196-197 

Enlisted Men Eager to be Mustered Out 197-201 

Officers Desire Continued Service 197-201 

Sergeant Austin's Reduction 198-201 

Major Brandon's Triumphant Fight 200-201 

Colonel Cox and Governor Johnston Disagree 201 

Illegal Imprisonment 201 

Seventh Army Corps Parade 201-202 

Orders for Muster Out 202-203 

Volunteers' Final Payment 202-203 

Return to Alabama 203 

Camps Herbert and Falkner 203-205 

Muster Out 205 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Frontispiece 0pp. 

Maj. Tom. O. Smith " 16 

Capt. Newman D. Lacy " 32 

Maj. Henry B. Foster " 48 

Maj Robert B. DuMont '' 64 

Capt. E. H. Graves -. " 80 

Capt. W. J. Vaiden " 96 

Capt. J. D . Hagan " 112 

Lieut. Leon Schwarz " 128 

Lieut. Sherwood Bonner " 144 

Breaking Camp at Spring Hill " 160 

Maj. William W. Brandon " 176 

Maj. S. S. Pugh " 192 



ADDEE'DA. 



It was with mingled delight and regret that the Alabamians doffed | 

their uniforms and returned to civic liabiliments. Warm friend- k 

ships had been contracted during the iix months' service and men | 

were sorry to part with comrades whom they might never see again. | 

But in the ISecond Alabama, the volunteers derived immense pleas- | 

ure from an attestation of their esteem and affection for the man \ 

who, more than any one else, labored to obtain their muster out. I 

An impressive ceremony was arranged at Camp Hilary A. Herbert | 

where Major William W. Brandon was presented with a handsome, « 

costly gold watch, chain and charm by the enlisted men of the regi- \ 

ment. ] 

Private J. S. Hood, of Company F, started the movement to make | 

the presentation and a committee was appointed to take up subscrip- [ 

tions as follows: Joseph R. Williams, Company A; Charles W. | 

HoIley,Co. L; J. S. Hood, Co F; Charles D. Faber, Co D; R. H. I 

McWhorter, Co. E ; Smith Dickens, Co. M ; Sergt W. A. McCreary, ; 

Co. B; R. E. Austin, Co. C; W..). Malone, Co H; Sergt. W. E [ 

Harris, Co. I; Sergt, W. T. Sheehan, Co. G ; Corporal C. W. Jackson, I 

Co. K. I 

INIen who did not feel constrained by grsititude for Major Bran- 1; 

don's fighi to have the regiment mustered out. were moved, by ad- ] 

mii-ation for his ability, to contribute to the presentation fund. [ 

Major Brandon had so deeply impressed the men of the Second Ala- i 

bama with his ability as an officer and his kindliness as a man that a ; 

marked eagerness was apparent on all sides to make eminently sue- [; 

cessful the presentation to him of a token of affection and esteem. I 

The watch, chain and charm were suitably engraved. Virgil { 

Bouldin, a private in Company I, and ex-member of the state legisla- t 

ture, was selected to make the presentation speech. Major Brandon | 

responded feelingly. i, 

In the First Alabama, the officers showed their esteem for the f- 

soldierly excellence of Lieutenant Colonel McDonald by presenting | 

him with a superb saber and scabbard Lieutenant Colonel McDon- n 

aid's fellow otHcers were lavish in thnir praise of his egregious abil- I 

ity as an officer ; and his response to the presentation speech breathed | 

a aeep regard for the patriotism, loyalty and valor of Alabama. ^ 

Meanwhile, the rank and file of the tirst Regiment, under the im- 1; 

pression that Colonel Higdon had fought single-handed for their [■ 



210 Addenda. 

muster out, showered on him a thousand evidences of their kindly 
regard. 

Altogether, the two regiments disbanded amid innumerable circum- 
stances of felicity. 

* * * * 

But the closing days of the Second Alabama's service were marked 
with intense disgust over the quality of food furnished. Both regi- 
ments were fed by contract during the few days prior to the muster 
out, but at Montgomery the men complained bitterly that the meats 
furnished were either tainted or practically uncooked. 

***** 

BATTALION FORMATIONS. 

First Alabama. 
First }5attalion— Companips K, L, A and G. 
Second Battalion— Companies H, D, M and I. 
Third Battalion— Companies C, E, F and B. 

Second A dab a ma. 
First Battalion— Companies A, L, F and D. 
Second Battalion— Companies E, M, B and C. 
Third Battalion — Companies H, I. G and K. 

* * * 

Corrections .\nd AnnrnoNS. 
In Company A, Second Alabama, Ciptain H. B. May, a most 
promising offi-er, was elected to the captaincy from the Second 
Junior Lieutenancy, J. T. Bnilen having been second lieutenant at the 

time. 

The captaincy of Company M, Second Alabama, was filled, after 
the rejection of Captain Rowan, by Captain (incorrectly termed 
lieutenant) W. L. Pitts, of Selma. a lawyer whose capacities and pos- 
sibilities as an officer won the respect of all who came to know him 
in the army. 

The Lomax Rifles captured the first prize in the militia drill at 
Washington, D. C, in 1887, as related on page 73, 

DEATH ROLL. 

Frank J. Maloney. First Alabama (correction). 

Sam Noble, Corporal Company D, Fir t .\Iabama,died at Anniston, 
Ala., from typhoid fever while home on furlough. 

Martin T. Whatley, Private, Company C, Second Alabama, died at 
Winn, Ala., while home on furlough. 

G. Yawn, Private, Company G, S3Cond Alabama, died September 
28, at Graceville, Fla., while home on furlough 

William J. Murphy, Private, Company B, Second Alabama, died at 
Camp Hilary A. Herbert, October 21. 



Addenda. 



211 



Men of The First Alabainn. 



Regimental Quartermaster Ser- 
geant, Lewis W. Patteson. 

Company K. 
Ranson, Edgar F. 
Williams, John, Deserted. 

Company L. 
John S. Hargrove, First Sergeant. 
John H. Cook, Sergeant. 
Corporal John J. Burnett. 
Alexander H. Gratz, Corporal. 
Oatts, John A.. 
Owen, Walter V., 
Suttie, David. 

Company A. 
2nd Lieut. Lucius C. Mont- 
gomery. 
Sergt. Garland Kirven, 
Corporal Samuel I. Bigham , 
Bare, William A., 
Connally, John, * 

Creilly. Otto C, 
Ferrie, John T., 
Keirsey David D., 
Oepger, Frank, 
Parrott, J Frank,' 
Seoggins, Jerry M. 

Company G. 
Sergt, L. S. Handley, Jr., 
Sergt. C. T. Thomasson.- 
Corporal Burlin R. Starnes, 
Allred, Charles A., 
Bragdon, H. T., 
Bean, .\lex W., 
Fillingin, Barney, 
Fletcher, Frank M., 
Goodwin, Melvin, 
Harris, Howard, 
Hand, Eugene F., 
Hays. Charles, 
Jennings. < harles, 
Jollee, Kdgar R., 
Kimball, K,t)llin C, 
Kieling, Harry. 
Meagher. James J., 
Pierce, B B., 
Pickard, Tony, 
Ray, Carl E., 
Shaw, O. \V., 
Shilling, Frank, 



Short, Marshall C, 
Venelle, Edward E., 
AValthall, H. B., 
Wooley, David Z., 

Company H. 
Corporal John Reily , 
Donnell, John T., 
Edmondson, L. E.. 
Edmundson, Joe, 
Graham, Minor E., 
Rayborn, George, 
Trenholm, C. V., 
Tussie, D. F. 

Company D. 
Corporal Fred H. Rounsaville, 
Boguskie, William, 
Breadion, Wm., Deserted. 

Company M. 
Palvado. C. J.. 
R-»oks. Robert R., 
Smithson.T. C, 

Company I. 
Corporal Postell Lewis, 
Corporal Cbas. P. Nunnelly, 

transferred. 
Cosper, Clem A., 
Hense, Ed., 
Mason, Eillod L., 
IMcCuilers, Burrell, 
Skipper, James L., 

Company C. 
Burns, Henry W., 
Dorsett, Wm. L., 
Duran, Bud, 

Comi'any E. 
McBee, Henry R., 

Company F. 
Qmster. Sergt Hiram Burrow, 
Sergt. Charles F Schneider, 
Musician Bernard R. liadford. 
Bryant, W. L., 
Collette, J O, 
Helveston, Laurin, 
Mason, .1 Thomas, 
Williams, Perry L., 
Reed, J. W., 

Co.mpa.s'y C. 
Arthur, G. P , 
Armistead, Gus, 



212 



Addenda. 



Armistead, Ike, 
Ohambliss, Pomeroy, 
Castile, Robert A., 
Green. H, J. S., 
Kalin, John, 
Keebaugh, Ollie, 
Legg, J. B., 
McDaniel, Thomas, 
Pruitt, E. W., 
Rosson, W. M., 
Tompkins, Emmet J., 
Walters, Ulis, 
Men of the Second Alabama. 
Company A. 
Corpora] Kearney W. McDade. 
Burdeshaw, Marion C, 
Deal, Robert L , 
Ledyard, Robert E., 
McKenzie, Alfred J., 
Matthews, Dessie, 
Rawlin-on, Douglas, 
Smith, William R., 
Shider, Thomas B., 

( OMPANY L. 

Sergeant Bozeman C. Bulger. 
Edwards, Locksley T., 
Harrison, Charles F., 
Johnston, Cliarles O.. 

Company F. 
Sergt. Charles H. LaBoyteaux, 
Booth, David W.. 
Chisolm, Ernest J., 
Meredith, Reuben A., 
Powell, Hamerica H., 
Raburn, Luther W , 

Company D. 
Donaldson, A K , 
Gullette, J. E., 
Lansdell, Charles B., 
Henfroe, Nathaniel D., 
Steed, Thomas G , 

Company M. 
Wagoner John C. Johnston, 
Brodnax, Uobert R., 



Harrison, Claude D., 
Howd, Pearl D., 
Linning, Charles, Dischgd. 
Newsom, James, 
Woolf, Eugene L., 

Company B. 
Corporal John D. Burnett, Jr., 
Broades, John. 
Hendon, Edwin T., Jr,, 

Company C. 
Corporal Frank O'Rourke, 
Deckard, Thomas B., 
Faulk, Thomas F.. 
Hubbird, Joseph F., 
Lamare, Vincent A., 
Stanford, Ed L., 
Tranum. Woods, 
West, VVylie F , 

Company H. 
Carter, Elias G., 
TulMier, Ulysses H., 

Company I. 
Alfred W. McGan. Qmstr. Sergt. 
Corporal William D. Keeton, 
Corporal Charles Rice Coffey, 
Elmore Kennamer, Musician, 
Richard H. Smith, Wagoner, 
Walter D. Green, Corporal. 
Gullatt, John A , 
Gober, Isaac, 
Oden, Henry, 
Sisk, Erskin M., 
Thrower, James M., 

Company G. 
Captain John R. Barr (resigned). 
Sergeant W. M. Petry, 
Harris, J, M., 
Kaigler, O G., 
McTyer, T. F., 
Stevens, 1^. M., 
Smith, W. T., 

Company K. 
Carlton. Walter S , 
Jones. Edgar W , 



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